For the House of Representatives
In the House of Representatives, a candidate cannot be elected without holding more than an ‘absolute majority’ — 50 per cent of the vote. This is not the ‘first past the post’ system used in other countries, which is where the candidate with the most votes, even if it’s less than 50 per cent, is the winner.
In Australian elections, you must order the candidates from 1 onwards, in order of your highest to lowest preference. Often, candidates will distribute How To Vote (HTV) cards, which show their ideal preference numbering. This is so that parties can suggest their optimal preference flow based on their strategic electoral interests. Parties with similar policies or ideologies will often enter ‘preference deals’ to list each other on their HTVs. For example, the Greens will often put another left-leaning candidate (Animal Justice, certain independents, Labor, etc. depending on the electorate) as an ideal second preference on their HTV.
If a candidate receives more than 50 per cent of first preference votes, then they are elected to parliament. If no candidate receives an absolute majority during that first count, then the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated entirely in order to begin a second round of counting. Then, in the second round of counting, the eliminated candidate’s votes are transferred to whoever they have selected as their second preference. Again, if no candidate receives an absolute majority this process is then repeated, with the least-supported candidates being eliminated after each round and votes being transferred until one candidate earns more than 50 per cent of the vote.
Check this great interactive explainer by The Conversation.
Make It So!
Using this fun example of the Enterprise, let’s see how preferential voting would play out if 100 valid ballots were cast.
At the first count, no candidate has over 50 per cent of the vote, so the candidate with the lowest quantity of votes is eliminated. Sorry Data. Of the six that voted for Data, their second preferences are two to Picard, one to Riker, one to Crusher, and none to Troi. We distribute Data’s preferences as directed.
The next count Troi is eliminated and we repeat the process of distributing preferences. This process is repeated until a candidate has over 50 per cent of the vote, which in our example is Picard. Engage!
For the Senate
The Senate is a different beast. Each state elects 12 senators (with each territory electing 2) who serve staggered three-year terms, with six senate seats up for grabs each federal election. To win a seat, a senate candidate has to fill a quota which is 14.3 per cent of the total formal ballots cast.
The actual formula provided by the AEC is (Number of formal ballot papers / (Number of vacancies + 1)) + 1
At each count candidates will either reach quota or not reach quota. Candidates that reach the quota will have their surplus votes transferred to their second preferences as indicated by the voters. If during a count there is no candidate above quota and there still remain vacancies, the candidate with the lowest vote share will be eliminated and their votes distributed according to the preferences indicated by the voter. This process repeats until the vacancies have been filled.
The nature of this system means that within each state, Labor is likely to pick up two senators, the Coalition is likely to pick up two senators, with the remaining two going to a left-leaning candidate (usually the Greens) and a right-leaning candidate usually (sometimes the Coalition, but often a minor party like One Nation). The sixth senate seat often goes to a candidate with a vote share well below the quota. Your preferences matter.
Mythbusting
“You have to vote following the How To Vote cards”\
You do not have to listen to how parties tell you to vote!
You, and only you, are the sole arbiter of exactly how your preferences are numbered.
It is still possible to vote for your ideal first preference candidate without following their HTV. You can simply write 1 next to their name and then number the rest of the list as you wish.
“It wastes your vote to first preference a non-major party as first preference because they won’t get in”
A vote still counts in its entirety, even if your first choice is eliminated. Your second choice and onwards are still counted. Let’s say you vote Greens first and Labor second; if the Labor candidate is elected then your second preference and thus your vote does count.
Even if your first preference does not win, preferencing them can send a signal to the other parties on your ballot. Parties receive information on how many first and second preference votes they had. If a party wins on second or third preference, that indicates that voters are too dissatisfied to place them as first preference.
