Electoral System


House of Representatives:

The Federal House of Representatives comprises 148 single member electorates. General elections are held at least once every three years.

Preferential voting has been used for the House of Representatives since 1919. On the ballot paper the names of all candidates are listed. The order of the candidates on the ballot form is arranged by lottery. The party affiliation of each candidate is also placed on ballot form.

In the box beside each name, voters rank the candidates with numbers (1, 2, 3, … N) in the order of their preference. Only one person can win each seat, so when three or more people are standing, the candidate with the least number of first-preference votes is eliminated. Her votes are examined to see where the second preferences go. These second preferences are then added at full value to the totals of the remaining candidates. The winning candidate must get 50% plus one vote to win the election. If no candidate has won after the first redistribution of preferences, the next candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, his votes then are distributed to the remaining candidates, and so on.

In the simplified example below the winner is Chin, even though he had the second lowest number of primary votes. He won on the preferences of the other candidates. At no point following the distribution of preferences was Chin the candidate with the least number of votes. And only after all the preferences had been distributed did a candidate have more than 50% of the votes.


Candidate Primary
votes		 Preferences
from
Eldar		 Preferences
from
Donoso		 Preferences
from
Brown		 Two party preferred votes Percent
Andrews 25,000 + 1,000 + 200 + 1,300 = 27,500 41%
Brown 14,000 + 300 + 2,000
Chin 10,000 + 4,500 + 10,000 + 15,000 = 39,500 59%
Donoso 12,000 + 200
Eldar 6,000
Total valid votes 67,000

Some argue that preferential voting better reflects the will of the people than first-past-the-post voting. Whereas first-past-the-post voting sees the most popular candidate winning an election, preferential voting results in the least disliked candidate winning. In the example above, Chin was the second least favoured candidate in primary vote terms. However, he was the least disliked candidate by 59% of the population. The benefit of preferential voting can be seen in situations where there are three or four candidates with similar views or policies who spilt the primary vote, but who are strongly desired and preferred by the majority of voters in an electorate to the remaining candidates.

With first-past-the-post voting it is not uncommon for people to be elected with less than a third or a quarter of the primary vote. The advantages of first-past-the-post voting are that it is easily understood and the results can be announced promptly.

Until recently, voters were not required to number all boxes on the ballot form, as long as at least the first preference was clearly numbered with a “1″ (one). Once valid preferences were used up, the ballot paper was deemed to be exhausted and set aside.

Albert Langer was gaoled before the 1996 federal election for advocating that voters place the two major parties equal last. His slogan was, “vote 1, 2, 3, 3, for tweedledum and tweedledee”. Such a valid vote under the old rules ensured that preferences did not flow to either of the two main parties. The Federal Parliament legislated in 1998 to rule informal the Langer system of voting.

Senate

The Senate comprises 12 Senators from each of the six States and two Senators each from the two Territories - 76 Senators in total. For the Senate, each State and Territory is a multi-member electorate. Usually only half the Senate goes to the election every three years. The Senators from each state are elected for six year terms. The Senators from the territories are elected for three year terms, and face the polls at every election. Under the unusual circumstance known as a double dissolution of Parliament, all seats in the Senate face the polls.

With the exception of a double dissolution, there is no requirement that half-Senate elections occur at the same time as elections for the House of Representatives. Nonetheless, governments generally seek to ensure the election cycles are aligned so that both happen at the same time. A half-Senate election can occur anytime in the 12 months before the positions fall vacant.

Proportional representation has been used for Senate elections since 1949. At each election all candidates are listed on the Senate ballot form. As with the House of Representatives, voters number the form (1, 2, 3, … N) to indicate their preference for each candidate. To win a seat, winning candidates need to receive a quota of votes. The number of votes needed to achieve a quota is defined by the formula:



   (      Number of formal votes       )

   ( _________________________________ ) + 1   =   Quota needed  

   (                                   )

   ( Senate positions to be filled + 1 )

For example, in a State in which (say) 3.5 million formal votes were cast, for six vacant Senate positions, a quota would be (3,500,000/7)+1 = 500,001 votes. In the Australian Capital Territory where (say) 210,000 formal votes were cast for two vacant Senate positions, a quota would be (210,000/3)+1 = 70,000 votes. Because of their differences in population, the size of a quota in New South Wales is many times that of Tasmania. In the 1996 federal election, the size of the state quota for New South Wales and Tasmania was 526,041 and 44,139 respectively. State quotas in double dissolution elections, when all 12 Senate vacancies are before the polls, are smaller than in usual elections when only 6 seats are vacant.

First preference votes are counted in exactly the same manner as for the House of Representatives. Candidates who receive more than a quota of first preference votes are elected. The number of votes they receive in excess of the quota are called surplus votes.

All surplus votes are transferred to other candidates based on the preferences indicated on the ballot paper. These votes are transferred before any eliminations occur. Because one cannot identify which votes actually elected a candidate, and which were the surplus votes, all votes are transferred to other candidates at a reduced rate. Surplus votes are transferred at a reduced rate. The formula for calculating

the reduced rate is as follows:



   ( Surplus votes received by candidate )

   ( ___________________________________ )   =    Value of each  

   (                                     )        surplus vote

   (   Total votes candidate received    )

Once preferences have been distributed, further candidates may have a quota, and thus be elected as Senators.

If there are still unfilled Senate positions, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and his votes are distributed to the remaining candidates according to the preferences marked on each ballot paper. If the votes are original votes they are redistributed at full value; if were received in preferences from other candidates then they are further redistributed at their previously reduced rate (well actually its a bit more complex than this but this is essentially the effect). Whenever a candidate has a quota he is elected and any surplus votes are distributed.

This process continues until all available Senate positions have been filled. The details of the process are set out in section 273 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

In 1984 the Senate ballot form was changed to allow voters to vote by ticket. Known as “above the line voting”, the names of each political party and all independents are placed along the top of the ballot form. Under this is ruled a line. A voter can either put a “1″ (one) in a single box above the line. That party’s preferences are then distributed according to a pre-determined choice. Otherwise, the voter can number all boxes below the line.

Whereas proportional representation voting results in a Senate which more accurately the diversity of views in the community; it is unusual for any one party to get a majority.

Compulsory voting

At the Federal level, Australia has had a system of compulsory voter registration since 1911, and compulsory voting since 1925. All adults over 18 years of age must vote, and penalties are applied to people who chose not to vote. Typically, in excess of 93% of the electorate turns out to vote.

In the 1922 federal election immediately prior to the introduction of compulsory voting the turnout was 57.9%.

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