6 ALLOCATION OF PREFERENCES
Part XVIII, ‘The scrutiny’
This chapter describes in some detail the different processes during the scrutiny for determining the successful candidates for the House of Representatives and the Senate. It will be most useful to those who are acting as scrutineers for the first time at this federal election. The better your understanding of the voting system, the more effective you are likely to be as a scrutineer.
As a scrutineer, you have an essential role to play in observing that all due process is followed on behalf of your candidate until the result is declared.
Fresh scrutiny
see Fresh scrutiny or recheckAfter election day, upon receipt of ballot papers from the officers-in-charge, the DRO conducts a fresh scrutiny, or recheck, of both House of Representatives and Senate ballot papers. This fresh scrutiny proceeds separately for House of Representatives and Senate ballots.
In 2004, some 82 per cent of the total formal vote was counted on election night. The remaining 18 per cent comprised absent, early, postal and provisional votes. These cannot be counted until after election night.
House of Representatives
The Act, s. 274
The voting system used for House of Representatives elections is a full preferential voting system. It has been used in Australian federal elections since 1918.
First, all the number 
formal (first preference) votes are counted for each candidate.
If a candidate gets an absolute majority (more than 50 per cent of the formal first preference votes) they will be elected.
If no candidate has an absolute majority of first preference votes, counting of votes then proceeds as outlined below.
After election night
Step 1: The candidates are ranked according to how many formal first preference votes they have received in the election.
- If the total number of first preference votes for all the candidates except the first- and second-ranked candidates is less than the number of first preference votes for the second-ranked candidate, all the candidates other than the first and second ranked candidates are excluded.
- If the total number of first preference votes for all the candidates other than the first- and second-ranked candidates is equal to or more than the number of first preference votes for the second-ranked candidate, then Step 2 begins.
Step 2: The candidate who has received the fewest first preference votes is excluded and all the ballot papers held by that candidate are transferred to the continuing candidates, according to the next available preference expressed on each ballot paper.
Step 3: The process of excluding the candidate who has the fewest votes continues until a single candidate has an absolute majority of the votes.
Step 4: The candidate who has an absolute majority of votes is elected.
In cases where the distribution of preferences is required to determine the result, this does not normally occur until 13 days have elapsed after election day, to allow for the receipt of postal votes. The AEO for a state or territory may, however, direct a DRO to conduct a provisional scrutiny of preferences as part of the fresh scrutiny.
A simplified example of how the system works is shown on the opposite page.
Two-candidate-preferred count
Where, on the basis of first preference votes, the exclusion of all but two candidates is inevitable, the result of the poll can be indicated on election night on the basis of a two-candidate-preferred count. The count, undertaken following the fresh scrutiny, is conducted in essentially the same manner as the indicative two-candidate-preferred count conducted in polling places on election night. Occasionally, either or both of the candidates chosen for this count following the fresh scrutiny will differ from the candidates chosen for the count on polling night.
The result of the full distribution of first preferences is used to calculate the two-party-preferred statistics for divisions that have candidates from the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Coalition as the final two candidates.
How the preferential voting system works
Four candidates Paul, Jo, Lee and Sally stand for election in a particular division. After the election, the ballot papers are counted and there are 100,000 formal votes. Therefore the absolute majority needed to be elected is 50,001 (more than 50%).
Sally, Jo, Lee and Paul received the following first preference or number votes – theprimary count.
- Paul 33,000
- Jo 21,000
- Lee 16,000
- Sally 30,000
No one has gained an absolute majority so the person with the lowest number of first preferences is excluded. This is Lee. The second preferences on his ballot papers are then distributed to Paul, Jo or Sally – thesecond count.
Of the total number of people who voted for Lee, 7,000 put the number 
in the box for Paul—these votes are now added to Paul’s number votes.
Of the total number of people who voted for Lee, 4,000 put the number in the box for Jo—these votes are now added to Jo’s number votes.
The remaining 5,000 put the number in the box for Sally—these votes are now added to Sally’s number votes.
- Paul 40,000
- Jo 25,000
- Sally 35,000
Still no one has gained an absolute majority so again the person with the lowest number of votes is excluded. This time it is Jo. The second preferences on her ballot papers are then distributed to Paul or Sally (unless the second preference was for Lee who has been excluded, in which case the vote is transferred according to the third preference) – thethird count.
6,000 of the total number of people who voted for Jo put the number or 
in the box for Paul, showing that they preferred Paul to Sally.
19,000 of the total number of people who voted for Jo put the number or in the box for Sally, showing that they preferred Sally to Paul.
- Paul 46,000
- Sally 54,000
Now that Sally has 54,000 votes, which is an absolute majority, she will become the elected member.
In divisions that do not have the ALP and Coalition as the final two candidates, a Scrutiny for Information is conducted to determine the two-party-preferred result. A Scrutiny for Information, in these cases, is a notional distribution of preferences to find the result of preference flows to the ALP and Coalition candidates.
Tied result
If there is a tied result on the final count, there is an immediate recount of votes and a fresh scrutiny of all rejected declaration votes.
If one candidate then receives an absolute majority of votes, the DRO declares the result accordingly.
The Act, ss. 274(9C) and 357(1A)
If the recount confirms the deadlock, the DRO advises the Electoral Commissioner that the election cannot be decided. The Electoral Commissioner must then file a petition disputing the election result with the Court of Disputed Returns (the High Court).
Senate count
The Act, s. 273
The voting system used for Senate elections is a full preferential system with proportional representation.
The AEC conducts the Senate below-the-line scrutinies and the distribution of preferences by a computer process.
Senate ballot papers are initially counted after the count of House of Representatives ballot papers is complete. The polling officials must keep separate the two types of Senate vote—the above-the-line (ticket) votes, and the below-the-line (preferentially numbered) votes—even though some candidates may receive first preference votes from both categories.
The essential features of the Senate system are as follows:
- see The quotaTo be elected, candidates must secure a quota of votes.
- Should a candidate gain an exact quota, they are declared elected and their ballot papers are set aside as finally dealt with. A candidate who receives more than a quota is said to have surplus votes.
- Should more than one candidate be elected at the same count, the candidate with the largest surplus is said to be elected first, the candidate with the second largest surplus is said to be elected second, and so on.
- For each candidate elected with a surplus, commencing with the candidate elected first, a transfer value is calculated on all their ballot papers.
The transfer value is determined by dividing the number of surplus votes received by the candidate by the total number of ballot papers received by the candidate. The result will be a number between 0 and 1.
All the candidate’s ballot papers are then re-examined, and the number showing a next available preference for each continuing candidate is determined. For each continuing candidate, the number of ballot papers is multiplied by the transfer value. The resulting numbers, ignoring any fractional remainders, are added to the continuing candidates’ respective progressive totals of votes. - Under certain circumstances the transfer of a surplus may be deferred until after an exclusion or bulk exclusion.
- Where a transfer of ballot papers raises the number of votes obtained by a candidate up to the quota, that candidate is elected. No more ballot papers are transferred to that elected candidate at any subsequent count.
- When all surpluses have been distributed, and vacancies remain to be filled, and the number of continuing candidates exceeds the number of unfilled vacancies, exclusion of candidates commences. Bulk exclusions are proceeded with if possible; otherwise exclusions of single candidates take place.
- Steps (4), (5), (6) and (7) are continued, as necessary, until either all vacancies are filled or the number of candidates continuing in the count is equal to the number of vacancies remaining to be filled. In the latter case, the remaining candidates are declared elected.
The quota
Unlike House of Representatives elections in which candidates have to gain more than 50 per cent of the votes to be elected, Senate candidates must gain a quota of the formal votes to be elected.
The quota is worked out by dividing the total number of formal ballot papers by one more than the number of vacancies, and then adding one to the result (ignoring any remainder).
This example shows how the quota for New South Wales in the 2004 half-Senate election was worked out. Six Senators were to be elected from among 78 candidates.
| Number of Senators to be elected: | Six |
| Number of formal ballot papers: | 3,974,565 |
| Quota: (3,974,565 ÷ (6 + 1)) + 1 (ignoring the remainder) = 567,796 | |
Election below quota
If two candidates remain in the scrutiny and there is only one vacancy to fill, the continuing candidate who has the larger number of votes is elected, even if that number is below the quota. This can happen if the election result is so close, and so many ballot papers have been set aside as exhausted, that it becomes mathematically impossible for any continuing candidate to reach a quota.
Tied result
The Act, s. 273(17)
In the event candidates are tied for exclusion and there is no previous count where one candidate was in front of the other, the AEO is required to determine the order of exclusion. The order will be requested when the distribution of preferences is conducted.
In the event candidates are tied for election, the AEO has a casting vote but does not otherwise vote at the Senate election.
