Voting

Voting is compulsory at all federal elections for Australian citizens over the age of 18.

Polling day is a Saturday and voting takes place between the hours of 8.00am and 6.00pm.

Types of votes

Australians can vote by:

• ordinary vote: a vote cast in the elector’s home division on polling day
• absent vote: a vote cast by an elector out of their home division but still within their home State or Territory on polling day
• pre-poll or postal vote: a vote cast before polling day at a pre-poll voting centre or by post. These votes can be cast by electors who will not be within their home State or Territory on polling day, are seriously ill, infirm, unable to leave work, or, for religious reasons, are unable to attend a polling place
• provisional vote: a vote cast in circumstances where an elector’s name cannot be found on the roll or the name has already been marked off the roll. The vote cannot be counted until a careful check of enrolment records and entitlements has been made.

Electors making a postal, pre-poll, absent or provisional vote must complete a declaration giving their personal details. This will be checked by the DRO during the counting of votes.

A comparison of the way in which Australians voted at the last three elections is presented below.

	1996	1993	1990
Ordinary votes	86.39%	87.56%	87.70%
Absent votes	5.75%	5.86%	6.40%
Pre-poll, postal and provisional votes	7.87%	6.58%	5.90%

HOW TO VOTEThe electoral systems for the two houses of Australia’s federal parliament are different.

Candidates for the House of Representatives are elected using the preferential voting system. This system has been used in federal elections since 1918. Candidates for the House of Representatives stand for a particular electoral division. To be elected, a candidate must get more than half the formal votes cast for that division. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for a three year term.

Candidates for the Senate are elected using a proportional representation system. Candidates for the Senate stand for a State or Territory. To be elected, a candidate must receive a proportion of the votes, also known as the quota. It is a Constitutional requirement that each State be equally represented regardless of its population. There are a total of 76 Senators: 12 for each State and two for each Territory. Senators for each State are elected for a six year term. Senators for each Territory are elected for a term equivalent to the duration of the House of Representatives. Forty Senate vacancies are contested at a half-Senate election. When a double dissolution is declared, all 76 Senate positions are made vacant.

When electors vote they are issued with two ballot papers, a green one for the House of Representatives and a white one for the Senate.

Under the CEA the AEC is obliged to provide separate voting compartments for each voter. This ensures the secrecy of the vote. Each voting compartment must be provided with a pencil. However, voters are able to use their own pen or biro if they wish.

How to vote for the House of Representatives

On the ballot paper for the House of Representatives the number ‘1’ is written in the box of the voter’s first choice.

Numbering is continued until there is a number in every box.

The ballot paper is folded and placed in the ballot box.

How the votes are counted: House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives votes are counted as follows:

Here’s How it WorksThe following example will help show you how the preferential system works. Fred, Ben and Anna stand for election. They receive the following votes:

Fred	Ben	Anna	= Total
15 000	23 000	22 000	60 000

There is a total of 60 000 votes.

To be elected a candidate needs 30 001 votes (50% plus 1 of the total formal votes).

As non of the candidates have that many first preference votes, the candidate with the fewest votes, Fred, is excluded and his ballot papers are transferred to the other candidates according to where the number ‘2’s’ are marked on them. Fred’s votes are transferred as follows

Fred	Ben	Anna
15 000	23 000	22 000
	+5 000	+10 000
	28 000	32 000

Once the second preferences on Fred’s ballot papers have been transferred, the votes for each candidate are totalled.

Candidate Anna has more than half the total votes cast (an absolute majority)

Anna

32 000

Anna is declared the winner

How to vote for the Senate

On the Senate ballot paper a voter can either vote above the line or below the line, but not both.

Above the lineIf a voter chooses to vote above the line, the number ‘1’ must be written in one of the boxes above the line. All other boxes on the paper are left blank. If a voter votes in the top section the vote will be counted in the way chosen by the group or party voted for. This is called a group ticket vote and posters are displayed at all polling places showing how each party or group has decided to have their preferences distributed.

At the 1996 federal election 94.4% of voters chose to vote above the line.

Below the lineIf a voter chooses to vote below the line, all the boxes in the bottom section of the ballot paper must be numbered sequentially in the order of the voter’s choice.

Group voting tickets (above the line) voting at half-senate elections 1990-96

	1990		1993		1996
State	GVT Votes	% of all Votes	GVT Votes	% of all Votes	GVT Votes	% of all Votes
NSW	3 147 404	94.29	3 447 085	96.18	3 527 343	95.8
VIC	2 325 448	90.15	2 611 141	95.07	2 639 537	95.4
QLD	1 523 711	91.01	1 732 282	93.60	1 838 928	95.6
WA	833 907	91.83	927 505	95.05	946 315	94.2
SA	845 734	93.13	896 037	94.72	876 938	93.9
TAS	224 569	77.09	243 542	78.88	224 439	72.6
ACT	123 827	76.59	155 200	84.43	160 311	83.5
NT	53 131	77.31	62 486	78.95	69 749	81.4
AUST	9 077 731	91.42	10 075 278	94.39	10 283 560	94.4

How the votes are counted: Senate

The Senate count is different to the House of Representatives. It is lengthy and complicated. A simplified summary of the main steps follows:

Working out the quotaTo be elected to the Senate, a candidate needs to gain a certain proportion (or quota) of the formal votes. The quota is calculated by dividing the total number of formal ballot papers by one more than the number of Senators to be elected, and adding 1 to the result (ignoring any remainder). For example, the calculation for New South Wales at the 1996 Senate election was:

3 682 283 + 1 = 526 041

(6 + 1)

Counting the first preference votes

This is done as for a House of Representatives election: the papers are sorted according to the first preferences on each ballot paper. Candidates who receive a quota, or more, of these first preference votes are elected immediately.

Transferring the surplusAny surplus votes these elected candidates received (ie votes in excess of the quota they needed) are transferred to the candidates who were the second choice of voters. However, they are transferred at a reduced value.

As a result of this process of transferring surplus votes, other candidates may be elected. If, however, all surplus votes from elected candidates have been transferred and there are still some unfilled positions, further counting is undertaken.

Exclusion of unsuccessful candidatesStarting with the lowest scoring candidate, unelected candidates are excluded from the count and their votes are passed on to the remaining candidates to whom the voters have given their preferences. The above process continues until all Senate positions are filled.

Here’s How it WorksTo be elected a candidate needs to get approximately 1/7 of all formal votes cast. Some candidates receive more votes than this. They are elected and their surplus votes are passed on to the candidates listed second on the ballot paper. But which ballot papers make up the quota and which are surplus? All ballot papers are passed on according to the second preferenc shown, but because the first candidate has already ‘used up’ some of the value of these votes in being elected, the votes flow on to the second preference candidates do not count as full votes. The exact value depends on how many votes the first candidate got: the more votes, the higher the value of the transferred ballot papers. These ‘transferred’ votes are added to the second candidate’s first preference votes. If those candidates now have more than the quota of votes they need, they are elected. Their surplus votes are then transferred to the candidates listed as the next preference on the ballot papers. This process continues until there are no more candidates with enough votes to be elected. If any of the 6 Senate places are not filled by this process, a different process is used to fill the remaining places. The candidate with the fewest number of votes is excluded and preferences from this candidate’s ballot papers are transferred to remaining unelected candidates. This is done at the value at which the votes were received. When the transfer of these preferences gives a candidate enough votes to be equal to or over the quota, that candidate is elected. The process of excludingthe least popular candidate and transferring surpluses of elected candidates continues until 6 candidates have enough votes, ie a quota, and are elected.

Quotas required for election in the 1996 half-senate election

State	Enrolment	Formal 1st Pref Votes	Quota
NSW	3 955 782	3 682 283	526 041
VIC	2 972 635	2 767 485	395 356
QLD	2 091 384	1 924 462	274 924
WA	1 088 487	1 004 299	143 472
SA	1 001 006	933 776	133 397
TAS	329 304	308 970	44 139
ACT	203 170	192 057	64 020
NT	98 800	85 705	28 569

Formal and informal votesBallot papers correctly marked according to the rules for voting are called formal votes. Ballot papers cannot be counted if they are informal.

A House of Representatives ballot paper is informal if:

• it is unmarked
• it has not received the official mark of the presiding officer and is not considered authentic
• ticks or crosses have been used
• only one number is shown
• it has writing on it which identifies the voter
• the voter’s intention is not clear.

A Senate ballot paper is informal if:

• it is unmarked
• it has not received the official mark of the presiding officer and is not considered authentic
• it has writing on it which identifies the voter
• the voter’s intention is not clear.

A vote above the line will be informal if:

• it has no first preference mark
• if there is more than one first preference mark.

A vote below the line is informal if:

• it has no first preference mark
• a tick or cross has been used as a first preference mark
• there is more than one first preference mark
• less than 90% of the boxes have been numbered
• there are more than 3 acceptable errors
• there are 10 or more candidates and less than 90% of the boxes have been numbered or there are more than 3 numbering errors
• there are less than 10 candidates and more than one box has been left blank or there are more than 2 numbering errors.*

A State and Territory comparison of informal voting at elections held between 1984 and 1996:

Senate (%) 1984 - 1996
	1996	1993	1990	1987	1984
NSW	3.8	2.7	4.2	4.9	5.2
VIC	3.6	3.1	3.6	4.0	3.7
QLD	3.3	2.0	2.5	3.1	2.7
WA	3.5	2.1	2.9	3.3	4.2
SA	3.3	2.3	2.5	3.8	5.0
TAS	3.2	2.6	3.1	3.8	5.7
ACT	2.5	1.6	2.4	2.4	3.1
NT	2.8	2.8	2.8	3.7	2.8
AUSTRALIA	3.5	2.6	3.4	4.1	4.3

House of Representatives (%) 1984 - 1996
	1996	1993	1990	1987	1984
NSW	3.6	3.1	3.1	4.6	5.7
VIC	2.9	2.8	3.5	5.3	7.5
QLD	2.6	2.6	2.2	3.4	4.5
WA	3.2	2.5	3.7	6.6	7.1
SA	4.1	4.1	3.7	6.8	8.2
TAS	2.4	2.7	3.3	5.0	5.9
ACT	2.8	3.4	3.0	3.5	4.7
NT	3.4	3.1	3.4	5.8	4.6
AUSTRALIA	3.2	3.0	3.2	4.9	6.3

Informal votingA national comparison of informal voting at elections held between 1984 and 1996:

Senate

House of Representatives