In Australian elections, we use a preferential voting system where voters rank candidates on ballot papers in order of their preference.
If your preferred candidate doesn’t get enough votes to win, your vote will go to your next preferred candidate.
100 per cent control
This system gives you 100 per cent control over where your vote goes, and if done correctly, ensures your vote is not wasted even when your first choice is not successful.
In the upcoming federal election, you will be given two ballot forms to complete.
One is a smaller green form used to elect a candidate as a Member of Parliament (MP) to represent your local area in the House of Representatives.
This vote not only selects your MP, but also goes towards electing the Prime Minister (PM).
Majority v minority
In Australia, we don’t vote directly for who we want as the PM. There are 150 seats in the House of Representatives, and the PM is elected when a party gets more than 50 per cent of the seats in the House of Representatives.
This is called a majority government.
If a party can’t quite get 50 per cent of the seats they may rely on support from other parties or crossbench MPs to form government.
This is called a minority government and happened in 2010, when Labor had to share power with Greens and independent MPs to get enough seats.
The second ballot is a large white form used to elect members to represent your state in the Senate. There are 76 members in the Senate made up of 12 members from each state and two for each territory.
On the green ballot you must number every single candidate in your desired order from your most favourite to your least favourite.
Number ‘1’ being your most favourite. On the white ballot, you must choose between one of two options. You must either number at least six candidates above the line, or at least 12 candidates below the line, in sequential order of preference.
It is essential you fill each form out correctly or it will be ruled informal, i.e. not be counted at all.
For a candidate to be elected in a preferential voting system, they must gain support from more than half of the voters.
All the ‘1’ votes are counted for each candidate and if they get more than 50 per cent of these first preference votes they are immediately elected.
If no candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the votes in the first count, the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded from the count. If the candidate you voted ‘1’ for is excluded then the candidate you numbered ‘2’ will be given your vote.
This process continues in rounds until one candidate has more than half the total votes and is declared elected.
This preferential system allows you to place a smaller party or independent candidate first, and never risk your vote being wasted.
Putting a smaller party or independent as number 1 sends a message to politicians about what policies or issues are of priority to you, and may encourage the major parties to change their own policies to reflect that.
The ‘How to Vote’ cards handed out at polling booths are simply a recommendation of how a candidate would most benefit from you preferencing your vote.
A candidate or party do not have control over your preferencing, and cannot redirect your vote to someone else. You have 100 per cent control of who you choose, and in what order.
Voting is a powerful opportunity to let our politician know what matters most to you and remember with preferential voting there is no such thing as a wasted vote!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
