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Labor's affirmative action laws have been invoked in the battle for the prized preselection in the Victorian seat of Wills.
On Tuesday the party counted nearly 700 votes from rank and file members, with the results paving the way for Australian Workers' Union-backed Peter Khalil to win.
The second part of the process is for Labor's Public Office Selection Committee to vote on Wednesday night, but it is widely considered a done deal and Mr Khalil will be endorsed.
However late on Tuesday night Meghan Hopper, who is a candidate for the seat, wrote to Labor's national executive urging them to intervene to ensure a woman won the seat.
"You will be aware that the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party is currently not meeting its targets in relation to affirmative action in held seats," Ms Hopper wrote in her letter to ALP president Mark Butler.
"Our current representation of women in held seats in Victoria is 34 per cent."
Under ALP rules at least 40 per cent of "winnable" seats must be held by women.
A similar attempt to invoke affirmative action in Wills last year failed because Victoria is on target for the 40 per cent quota.
Ms Hopper argues that the seats of Melbourne and Dunkley, where women are preselected, do not count towards the target.
"We cannot approach the next federal election without ensuring that women are preselected in at least 40 per cent of held seats, and the preselection in Wills affords us an opportunity to do that."
She suggests both herself and scientist and adviser to Bill Shorten, Anna-Maria Arabia, as good options. Ms Arabia finished third in the primary vote count on Tuesday behind Mr Khalil and the Stephen Conroy-backed Mehmet Tillem.
"In the lead-up to the Wills preselection vote, our party leader, Bill Shorten was cited in the media as favouring a female candidate," she said.
"He has also made decisive public statements in relation to Labor's target of achieving 50 per cent representation of women by 2025. It is important that the party get behind this target and not be seen as undermining our existing affirmative action quotas."
