8 November 2001

House of Representative candidates stand for election for a particular Division and Members are elected using the preferential voting system.

House of Representatives Ballot Paper

The House of Representatives' ballot paper is green and lists the names of the candidates standing for that Division. The elector is required to put a number in every square next to the candidates' names. The number 1 indicates the elector's first preference, 2 indicates their second preference and so on.

Distribution of Preferences

In the House of Representatives election candidates who receive an absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) of formal votes are elected. The distribution of preferences is required when no candidate receives an absolute majority. In this instance, the candidate with the fewest number of first preference votes is excluded and their second preference votes are distributed to the remaining candidates.

If after that exclusion no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of formal votes, the next remaining candidate with the fewest votes is excluded and ALL of his/her votes (i.e. first preference votes PLUS those votes received from the first excluded candidate) are distributed to the remaining candidates.

This process is continued until one candidate obtains an absolute majority of formal votes and is elected.

If at any exclusion the next available preference is for a previously excluded candidate, then that preference is disregarded and the vote is distributed to the continuing candidate for whom the next available preference is shown.

The example below will help show how it works. A more detailed example and more information on the preferential voting system is available on the AEC web site.

Example of the House of Representatives count

The example we will explain now will help show how the preferential voting system works.

Fred, Ben, Anna and Pat stand for election. They receive the following first preference or number '1' votes.

Fred 10,000

Ben 18,000

Anna 19,000

Pat 13,000

This is a total of 60,000 formal votes. To be elected a candidate needs at least 30,001 votes or over half of the total formal votes (50% + 1 of the total formal votes or an absolute majority).

As none of the candidates has that many first preference votes, the candidate with the least number of votes - that is Fred - is excluded and his ballot papers are transferred to the other candidates according to where each voter has marked the number '2' on them.

Fred's votes are transferred as follows:

2,000 are transferred to Ben giving him a total of 20,000 votes

5,000 are transferred to Anna giving her a total of 24,000 votes

3,000 are transferred to Pat giving her a total of 16,000 votes

Even following this distribution of preferences, the three remaining candidates still do not have an absolute majority.

So the candidate with the least number of votes - that is Pat - is excluded and her ballot papers are transferred to the remaining candidates according to the next available preference marked on them by the voter.

This could be the number '2' or even '3' in the case of Pat's votes and the number '3' from the 3,000 received from Fred.

Pat's votes are transferred as follows:

12,000 are transferred to Ben giving him a total of 32,000 votes

4,000 are transferred to Anna giving her a total of 28,000 votes

Ben now has 32,000 votes, or an absolute majority, so he is declared the winner. Note that although Ben did not have the highest number of first preference votes, the second and third preferences allocated by voters have elected him.

The process could involve more than the steps explained in this example, depending on the number of candidates standing for election. Candidates will continue to be excluded and their preferences transferred, or distributed, until one candidate has an absolute majority.

ALTHOUGH HOW-TO-VOTE CARDS MAY ENCOURAGE ELECTORS TO MARK THEIR PREFERENCES IN A PARTICULAR ORDER, THE FINAL CHOICE IS UP TO EACH ELECTOR.