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Section Four: Election Day - Part Three

Narration:

Scrutineers are also present at this time, to monitor the counting of votes on behalf of their candidate.

These votes are processed in such a way as to enable Australia to know the result of the election on the evening that the polls close, thanks to the major effort the AEC makes on election night to gather and distribute progressive figures and final tallies to the media, and the broader community.

The tally room is shadowed by the AEC’s ‘virtual tally room’ on the world wide web which, on election night 2001, received more than four million hits.

Although close contests may depend on the distribution of preferences or require recounts, it is usually possible for the Prime Minister elect to claim victory on the night of the election. Counting for the Senate continues for several weeks.

Questions:

Progressive figures permit analysts to detect any swing. What is a swing? The commentators focus on the marginal rather than the safe seats. What do these terms mean ?

Why do errors occur?

Activities

• A class might try counting matches in a box, or lollies in a pack, to see whether the results are consistent!

Glossary

National Tally Room - The scene of the media and political concentration on election night, with the giant manually operated tally board as its focus. The National Tally Room is in one of the pavilions of Exhibition Park in Canberra.

Recounts - Second, subsequent counting of the votes in a polling place (or throughout a division) as required to ensure accuracy and particularly in the case of very close margins.