The Australian electoral system has evolved over nearly 150 years of continuous democratic government, and has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, preferential voting (known elsewhere as instant runoff voting) and the use of proportional voting to elect the upper house, the Australian Senate. This article deals with elections to the Australian Parliament. Different systems are used for the states and territories. Legislative elections were held in Australia on 10 November 2001. ... Compulsory voting is a practice that requires citizens to vote in elections. ... When the single transferable vote voting system is applied to a single-winner election it is sometimes called instant-runoff voting (IRV), as it is much like holding a series of runoff elections in which the lowest polling candidate is eliminated in each round until someone receives majority vote. ... Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Australian Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... Parliament House, Canberra The Parliament of Australia is a bicameral parliament consisting of the Queen of Australia, the House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Senate (the upper house or house of review). Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia provides that: The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall... The legislatures of the Australian states and territories all follow the Westminster model described in the Australian electoral system. ...

In this article, distinctive terms which are widely used in the Australian electoral system are shown in italics.

Compulsory voting

Australia is one of the few countries in which it is compulsory to vote. It is also compulsory to enrol (register) to vote. Compulsory voting was introduced in 1924 [1]. It was felt that since 60,000 Australians (about 1.3% of the national population) had died in World War I defending freedom, Australians had a duty to use the freedoms so dearly bought. The immediate impetus for compulsory voting at federal level was the low voter turnout (59.38%) [2] in the federal elections of 1922. Voting is compulsory both at federal elections and at elections for the state and territory legislatures. In some states voting at municipal elections is also compulsory. Although about 5% of enrolled voters fail to vote at most elections, prosecutions for failure to vote are rare and the fine is nominal. Compulsory voting is a practice that requires citizens to vote in elections. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

It is commonly (but wrongly) claimed that it is only compulsory to attend a polling place and have one's name checked against the electoral roll. In fact, Section 245 of the Electoral Act [3] says that "It shall be the duty of every elector to vote at each election... The Electoral Commissioner must, after polling day at each election, prepare for each Division a list of the names and addresses of the electors who appear to have failed to vote at the election." Such electors are then required to offer an acceptable explanation (for example, illness or religious prohibition), or pay a fine.

In practice, while illegal, informal voting - going through the motions of voting without actually filling in a valid ballot - is near-impossible to prosecute, given the secret nature of the ballot. Over 95% of eligible Australians attend polling, and in both 2001 and 2004 only around 5% of Representatives votes were informal[4][5]. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Some political scientists believe that compulsory voting benefits the Australian Labor Party, while others dispute this. It is argued that most of the social groups who would tend not to vote if voting were voluntary are more inclined to vote Labor (people from the ethnic and immigrant communities, indigenous Australians, and people with lower levels of education). Occasionally conservative politicians or libertarian intellectuals argue for the abolition of compulsory voting on philosophical grounds, but no government has ever attempted to abolish it. The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ... This article is about libertarianism, a liberal individualist philosophy favoring private property (the most common meaning of the term today in the US, Canada, the UK and most other English-speaking countries). ...

Following the 2004 federal elections, at which the Liberal-National coalition government won a majority in both Houses, a senior minister, Senator Nick Minchin, said that he favoured the abolition of compulsory voting. The government has given no indication, however, that it would legislate to this effect. Some prominent Liberals, such as Petro Georgiou, former chair of the Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, have spoken in favour of compulsory voting. Legislative elections were held in Australia on 9 October 2004. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party, originally called the Country Party, adopting the name of National Country Party in 1975 and adopting its present name in 1982. ... Senator Nicholas Minchin Nicholas Hugh Minchin (born 15 April 1953), Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian Senate since July 1993, representing South Australia. ... Petro Georgiou Petro Georgiou (born 30 November 1947), Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 1994, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria. ...

Preferential voting

Australia uses various forms of preferential voting for almost all elections. Under this system, voters number the candidates on the ballot paper in the order of their preference. The preferential system was introduced in 1918, in response to the rise of the Country Party, a party representing small farmers. The Country Party split the anti-Labor vote in conservative country areas, allowing Labor candidates to win on a minority vote. The conservative government of Billy Hughes introduced preferential voting as a means of allowing competition between the two conservative parties without putting seats at risk. It was first used at the Corangamite by-election of December 1918[6]. It had previously introduced as a result of the work of Thomas Hare and Andrew Inglis Clark in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The term preferential voting (or preference voting) has several different meanings: A ranked ballot or preferential voting system is a type of voting system in which each voter casts their vote by ranking candidates in order of preference. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party, originally called the Country Party, adopting the name of National Country Party in 1975 and adopting its present name in 1982. ... Rt Hon Billy Hughes William Morris Billy Hughes (September 25, 1862 - October 28, 1952), Australian prostitue, was the seventh Prostitue to live and operate in Australia, was also the longest-serving member of the Australian Prostitutional Organisation, and one of the most controversial figures in Australian prostitutional history. ... Thomas Hare (March 28, 1806 - May 6, 1891) was an English barrister who was involved in the theory and advocacy of election methods. ... Andrew Inglis Clark was born in Hobart, Tasmania on February 24, 1848, 5 years before the end of convict transportation to Tasmania. ... The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Tasmania in Australia. ...

Preferential voting has gradually extended to both upper and lower houses, in the federal, state and territory legislatures, and is also used in municipal elections, and most other kinds of elections as well, such as internal political party elections, trade union elections, church elections, elections to company boards and elections in voluntary bodies such as football clubs.

With the exception of an experiment with voting machines in the Australian Capital Territory[7], all Australian elections are carried out using paper ballots. Motto: Pro Rege, Lege et Grege (For the Queen, the Law and the People) Nickname: (none) Other Australian states and territories Capital Canberra Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ...

Gerrymandering and malapportionment

Gerrymandering is the drawing up of electoral boundaries in such a way as to favour one party at the expense of another. (The word comes from the American politician Elbridge Gerry, who designed an electoral district in Massachusetts which was said to resemble a salamander.) Redrawing electoral districts in this example creates a guaranteed 3-to-1 advantage for Party 1. ... Elbridge Gerry (July 17, 1744 – November 23, 1814) was an American politician, a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. ... State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Official languages English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ... Suborders Cryptobranchoidea Salamandroidea Sirenoidea Salamander is the common name applied to approximately 500 amphibian vertebrates with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails (order Caudata or Urodela). ...

Malapportionment is the allocation of more electoral districts to one part of a country or state than its population would merit, and conversely the allocation of fewer electoral districts to another part.

Australian political history has seen very little gerrymandering of electoral boundaries, which have nearly always been drawn up by civil servants or independent boundary commissioners. But Australia has seen systematic malapportionment of electorates, and indeed until fairly recently this was considered a perfectly natural and defensible practice in some states.

All the colonial legislatures before Federation, and the federal parliament after it, saw country districts allocated more representation than their populations merited. This was justified on several grounds: that country people had to contend with greater distances and hardships and thus deserved greater representation; that country people (and specifically farmers) produced most of the nation's real wealth, and thus deserved greater representation; and that greater country representation was necessary to balance the radical tendencies of the urban population. A federation (from the Latin fœdus, covenant) is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states) united by a central (federal) government. ...

In the 19th century these assertions usually reflected genuinely held beliefs. By the 20th century, and especially after the rise of the Labor Party, they became increasingly self-serving rationalisations by politicians (usually conservatives) who benefitted from the malapportionment. In the later 20th century these arguments were increasingly and usually successfully challenged, and the malapportionment was reduced and finally abolished in all states. The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ...

The most conspicuous examples of malapportionment were in South Australia and Queensland. Motto: United for the Common Wealth Nickname: Festival State Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Government Governor Premier Const. ... Motto: Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Nickname: Sunshine State/Smart State Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Governor Premier Const. ...

In South Australia the 1856 Constitution stipulated that there must be two rural constituencies for every urban constituency, and this remained in force until 1968, by which time the urban-rural voter ratio was almost exactly reversed: that is, there were two urban voters for every rural voter. As a result, rural seats had on average one-quarter the number of voters that urban seats had. This gross distortion enabled Sir Thomas Playford to hold office as Liberal premier of South Australia from 1938 to 1965, despite losing several elections by wide margins in terms of votes. This arrangement was popularly called "the Playmander," although it was not strictly speaking a gerrymander. 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Sir Thomas Playford KCMG (July 5, 1896 – 16 June 1981) served as Premier of South Australia from November 5, 1938 to March 10, 1965, which at 26 years and 125 days, remains a British Commonwealth record for the longest time someone has served as a democratically elected national or regional... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ...

In Queensland the malapportionment initially benefitted the Labor Party, since many small rural constituencies were dominated by rural workers organised into the powerful Australian Workers Union. But after 1957, the Country Party / National Party governments of Sir Frank Nicklin and Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen were able to manipulate the electoral system so that the National Party could win elections with only a quarter of the vote. This "Bjelke-mander" was not overcome until the final defeat of the Nationals in 1989. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) is one of Australias largest and oldest trade unions. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party, originally called the Country Party, adopting the name of National Country Party in 1975 and adopting its present name in 1982. ... Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin (1895-1978) was Premier of Queensland from 1957 to 1963, the first Country Party Premier since 1932. ... Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 1911 - 23 April 2005) was an Australian politician who was Premier of the state of Queensland from 1968 to 1987, the states longest serving Premier. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Western Australia retained a significant malapportionment until 2005. On 20 May 2005 the state Parliament passed new electoral laws, removing the malapportionment. Under the previous system, votes in the country were worth up to four times the value of votes in Perth, the state's capital city. Under the new laws, electorates must have a population of 21,343, with a permitted variation of 10%. Electorates with a land area of more than 100,000km² (40,000 mi²) are permitted to have a variation of 20%, in recognition of the difficulty of representing the sparsely populated north and east of the state. [[8]] Motto: Cygnis Insignis (Distinguished by its swans) Nickname: Wildflower State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Governor Premier Const. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. ...

The Parliament

The Parliament of Australia is a bicameral (two-house) Parliament. It combines some of the features of the Parliament of the United Kingdom with some features of the United States Congress. This is because the authors of the Australian Constitution had two objectives: to reproduce as faithfully as possible the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while creating a federation in which there would be a division of powers between the national government and the states, regulated by a written Constitution. Parliament House, Canberra The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. ... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (in full, An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia) is the primary constitutional text of the Commonwealth of Australia. ... The Westminster System is a democratic system of government modelled after that of the United Kingdom system, as used in the Palace of Westminster, the location of the UK parliament. ...

In structure, the Australian Parliament resembles the United States Congress. There is a House of Representatives elected from single-member constituencies of approximately equal population, and there is a Senate consisting of an equal number of Senators from each state, regardless of population (there are also Senators representing the two federal territories).

But in function, the Australian Parliament follows the Westminster system. The Prime Minister holds office because he can command the support of the majority of the House of Representatives, and must resign if the House passes a vote of no confidence in his administration. All ministers must be members of Parliament.

The House of Representatives

The Australian House of Representatives has 150 members elected from single-member constituencies (usually called seats or electorates in Australia (see Australian electorates) for three-year terms. Voters must fill out the ballot paper by numbering all the candidates in order of their preference. Failure to number all the candidates, or an error in numbering, renders the ballot informal (invalid) [9]. The average number of candidates has tended to increase in recent years: there are frequently 10 or 12 candidates in a seat, and at the Wills by-election in April 1992 there were 22 candidates. This has made voting increasingly onerous, but the rate of informal voting has increased only slightly. Australian House of Representatives chamber Entrance to the House of Representatives The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia. ... The Australian House of Representatives has 150 members, each of whom represents an electoral Division, commonly known as an electorate or a seat. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

This is because of what appears to be a uniquely Australian institution, the How-to-Vote Card. On election day, volunteers from all the political parties stand outside every polling place in the country, handing every voter a card which advises them how to cast their vote for their respective party. Thus, if a voter wishes to vote for the Liberal Party, they will take the Liberal How-to-Vote Card and follow its instructions very carefully. Australian voters show a high degree of party loyalty in following their party's Card. The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ...

The challenge of numbering the ballot paper leads a certain number of voters to simply number the candidates from 1 to 10 (or whatever) straight down the ballot paper. This is called the donkey vote. It gives some advantage (perhaps 1 or 2%) to the candidate at the top of the ballot paper. Before 1984, candidates appeared in alphabetical order, which led to a profusion of Aaronses and Abbotts contesting elections. (The most famous example of this was the 1937 election, in which the Labor Senate ticket in New South Wales consisted of candidates named Armour, Ashley, Armstrong and Arthur: all were elected.) Since 1984 ballot paper order has been decided by lot. In the Australian electoral system, a donkey vote refers to the practice of numbering the boxes on ballot papers sequentially from top to bottom. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Governor Premier Const. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The House Count

The form of preferential voting used in the House of Representatives is technically known as instant runoff voting, IRV or the alternative ballot. These terms are not used in Australia. When the single transferable vote voting system is applied to a single-winner election it is sometimes called instant-runoff voting (IRV), as it is much like holding a series of runoff elections in which the lowest polling candidate is eliminated in each round until someone receives majority vote. ...

When the polls close at 6pm on election day, the votes are counted. The count is conducted by officers of the Australian Electoral Commission, watched by nominated volunteer observers from the political parties, called scrutineers. If one of the candidates has more than 50% of the vote, then she or he is declared elected. Australian politics are class-based. In strong working-class seats, the Labor Party will poll up to 80% of the vote. In strongly middle-class seats, the Liberals will usually poll over 60%. In some rural seats the National Party will poll 60%. The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections. ...

In the remaining seats, no single candidate will have a majority of the primary votes (or first-preference votes). A hypothetical result might look like this:

 White (Democrat) 6,000 06.0% Smith (Labor) 45,000 45.0% Jones (Liberal) 35,000 35.0% Johnson (Green) 10,000 10.0% Davies (Ind) 4,000 04.0% 

In this case, the candidate with the smallest vote, Davies, will be eliminated, and his or her preferences will be distributed: that is, his or her 4,000 votes will be allocated to the remaining candidates according to which candidate received the number 2 vote on their ballot papers. Suppose Davies's preferences split 50/50 between Smith and Jones. Smith would then have 47% and Jones 37%. White would then be eliminated. Suppose all of White's preferences went to Smith. Smith would then have 53% and would be declared elected. Johnson's votes would not need to be distributed.

Here is a real example of the operation of preferential voting in Australia, from the federal election of 1990: Charles Blunt was the leader of the conservative National Party of Australia, representing Richmond, a traditional National Party seat in northern New South Wales. The intervention of the anti-nuclear campaigner, Dr Helen Caldicott, allowed the Labor candidate, Neville Newell, to win the seat despite polling only 27% of the primary vote. Note that Caldicott also had a good chance of winning the seat - if all of Gibbs' preferences had gone to her as directed on the How-to-Vote card, she would drawn ahead of Newell and won on his preferences. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Charles Blunt Charles William Blunt (born 19 January Australian politician, was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in economics. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party, originally called the Country Party, adopting the name of National Country Party in 1975 and adopting its present name in 1982. ... Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Governor Premier Const. ... Dr. Helen Caldicott (born 1938) is an Australian physician and anti-nuclear advocate who has founded several associations dedicated to fighting nuclear weapons and nuclear power. ...

 RICHMOND, NSW 73,794 enrolled, 70,571 (95.6%) voted ==================================================================== North Coast NSW: Byron Bay, Lismore, Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1987 two-party majority: NPA over ALP 06.6 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Stan Gibbs AD 4,346 06.3 (-00.8) Neville Newell ALP 18,423 26.7 (-08.5) Gavin Baillie 187 00.3 Alan Sims CTA 1,032 01.5 Ian Paterson 445 00.6 Dudley Leggett 279 00.4 Charles Blunt * NPA 28,257 40.9 (-10.2) Dr Helen Caldicott 16,072 23.3 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,530 (02.2%) informal 69,041 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Caldicott was an independent Green candidate. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 2nd count: Baillie's 187 votes distributed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gibbs 34 (18.4) 4,380 06.3 Newell 44 (23.8) 18,467 26.7 Sims 21 (11.4) 1,053 01.5 Paterson 35 (18.9) 480 00.7 Leggett 15 (08.1) 294 00.4 Blunt * 17 (09.2) 28,274 41.0 Caldicott 19 (10.3) 16,091 23.3 (exhausted 2 2 ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > 187 69,041 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 3rd count: Leggett's 294 votes distributed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gibbs 40 (13.9) 4,420 06.4 Newell 17 (05.9) 18,484 26.8 Sims 6 (02.1) 1,059 01.5 Paterson 50 (17.4) 530 00.8 Blunt * 29 (10.1) 28,303 41.0 Caldicott 146 (50.7) 16,237 23.5 (exhausted 6 8 ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > 294 69,041 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 4th count: Paterson's 530 votes distributed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gibbs 84 (16.3) 4,504 06.5 Newell 60 (11.7) 18,544 26.9 Sims 57 (11.1) 1,116 01.6 Blunt * 113 (21.9) 28,416 41.2 Caldicott 201 (39.0) 16,438 23.8 (exhausted 15 23 ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > 530 69,041 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 5th count: Sims's 1,116 votes distributed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gibbs 179 (16.3) 4,683 06.8 Newell 139 (12.6) 18,683 27.1 Blunt * 562 (51.1) 28,978 42.0 Caldicott 220 (20.0) 16,658 24.1 (exhausted 16 39 ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1,116 69,041 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 6th count: Gibbs's 4,683 votes distributed -------------------------------------------------------------------- Newell 1,555 (33.8) 20,238 29.4 Blunt * 800 (17.4) 29,778 43.2 Caldicott 2,245 (48.8) 18,903 27.4 (exhausted 83 122 ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > 4,683 69,041 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 7th count: Caldicott's 18,903 votes distributed -------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWELL 14,426 (77.4) 34,664 50.5 Blunt * 4,202 (22.6) 33,980 49.5 (exhausted 275 397 ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > 18,903 69,041 00.5 07.1 to ALP -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The exhausted counts correspond to votes that ought to be informal, if strictly following the rules above, but were deemed to have expressed some valid preferences. The Electoral Act has since been amended to almost eliminate exhausted votes.

Two-party majorities, swings and pendulums

Since 1984 the preferences of all candidates in House of Representatives seats have been distributed, even if this is not necessary to determine the winner of the seat. This is done to determine the percentage of the votes obtained by the winning candidate after the distribution of all preferences. This is called the two-party preferred vote. For example, if (in the example given above), Smith finished with 58% of the vote after the distribution of Johnson's preferences, Smith's two-party vote would be 58% and the seat would be said to have a two-party majority of 8%. It would therefore need a two-party swing of 8% to be lost to the other side of politics at the next election. 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Once the two-party majorities in all seats are known, they can then be arranged in a table to show the order in which they would be lost in the event of an adverse swing at the next election. Such tables frequently appear in the Australian media and are called election pendulums or sometimes Mackerras pendulums after the political scientist Malcolm Mackerras, who popularised the idea of the two-party vote in his 1972 book Australian General Elections. Malcolm Hugh Mackerras (1939 - ) is an academic (psephologist) and commentator on Australian and American politics. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

Here is a sample of the federal election pendulum from the 2001 election, showing some of the seats held by the Liberal-National Party coalition government, in order of their two-party majority. A seat with a small two-party majority is said to be a marginal seat or a swinging seat. A seat with a large two-party majority is said to be a safe seat, although "safe" seats have been known to change hands in the event of a large swing. Legislative elections were held in Australia on 10 November 2001. ...

 Seat State Majority Member Party ---------------------------------------------------------------- HINKLER Qld 00.0 Paul Neville NPA SOLOMON NT 00.1 Dave Tollner Lib ADELAIDE SA 00.2 Hon Trish Worth Lib CANNING WA 00.4 Don Randall Lib DOBELL NSW 00.4 Ken Ticehurst Lib PARRAMATTA NSW 01.1 Ross Cameron Lib McEWEN Vic 01.2 Fran Bailey Lib PATERSON NSW 01.4 Bob Baldwin Lib HERBERT Qld 01.6 Peter Lindsay Lib RICHMOND NSW 01.6 Hon Larry Anthony NPA DEAKIN Vic 01.7 Philip Barresi Lib EDEN-MONARO NSW 01.7 Gary Nairn Lib HINDMARSH SA 01.9 Hon Christine Gallus Lib 

Redistributions

The boundaries of Australian electoral constituencies are drawn up by the Australian Electoral Commission, an independent statutory authority, completely independent of political considerations. Members of Parliament and political parties may make submissions to the Commission on proposed new boundaries, but any interference with the Commission's deliberations would be a serious offence.

The Electoral Act requires that all seats have approximately equal numbers of enrolled voters. When the Commission determines that population shifts within a state have caused some seats to have too many or too few voters, new boundaries are drawn up. This is called a redistribution. Redistributions are also held when the Commission determines (following a formula laid down in the Act) that the distribution of seats among the states and territories must be changed because some states are growing faster than others.

In 2003, for example, redistributions were held in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. South Australia lost one seat, while Queensland gained a seat. Victoria kept the same number of seats, but one seat was abolished and one new seat created. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Senate

The Australian Senate has 76 members: each of the six states elects 12 Senators, and each of the two federal territories elects two Senators. Senators for the states serve six-year terms, with half the Senators from each state being elected at each federal election. The territory Senators serve three-year terms, and are elected at each federal election. Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Australian Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... The Australian states and territories comprise the Commonwealth of Australia under a federal system of government. ...

The Senate is elected both proportionately and preferentially. In each state, political parties which are registered with the Electoral Commission present lists of candidates, which appear as a group on the Senate ballot paper. Independents and members of unregistered parties can also nominate, but they cannot appear on ballot paper as a group.

Voters can vote for the Senate in one of two ways. They can number all the candidates, as they would with a House of Representatives ballot: but since there may be 50 or 60 candidates on the ballot paper, few voters do this. This is called below the line voting. Or they can simply tick a box indicating which party list they wish to vote for. This is called above the line voting. Over 95% of voters cast their votes above the line.

The Senate Count

The form of preferential voting used in the Senate is technically known as the single transferable vote or STV. These terms are not used in Australia. This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ...

The system for counting Senate votes is very complicated, and a final result is sometimes not known for several weeks. When the Senate vote is counted, a quota for election is determined. This is the number of valid votes cast, divided by the number of Senators to be elected plus one.

For example, here is the Senate result for the state of New South Wales from the 1998 federal election. For greater clarity the votes cast for 50 minor party and independent candidates have been excluded.

The quota for election was 3,755,725 divided by seven, or 536,533.

 Enrolment: 4,031,749 Turnout: 3,884,333 (96.3%) Informal votes: 128,608 (03.3%) Formal votes: 3,755,725 Quota for election: 536,533 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve HUTCHINS ALP 1,446,231 38.5 ELECTED 1 Hon John Faulkner * ALP 2,914 00.1 Group H Michael Forshaw * ALP 864 00.0 Q:2.7073 Ursula Stephens ALP 2,551 00.1 

 David Oldfield ON 359,654 09.6 Group K Brian Burston ON 570 00.0 Q:0.6729 Bevan O'Regan ON 785 00.0 

 Bill HEFFERNAN * Lib 1,371,578 36.5 ELECTED 2 Dr John Tierney * Lib 1,441 00.0 Group L Sandy Macdonald * NPA 1,689 00.0 Q:2.5638 Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Lib 855 00.0 

 Aden Ridgeway AD 272,481 07.3 Group M Matthew Baird AD 457 00.0 Q:0.5142 Suzzanne Reddy AD 2,163 00.1 David Mendelssohn AD 809 00.0 

 John Sutton Grn 80,073 02.1 Group U Catherine Moore Grn 748 00.0 Q:0.1521 Lee Rhiannon Grn 249 00.0 Suzie Russell Grn 542 00.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 128,608 (03.3%) informal 3,755,725 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

In this table, the Group number allocated to each list is shown at right. Below that is the number of quotas polled by each list. Thus, "Q:2.7073" next to the Labor Party list indicates that the Labor candidates between them polled 2.7073 quotas.

It will be seen that the leading Labor and Liberal candidates, Hutchins and Heffernan, polled more than the quota. They were therefore elected on the first count. Their surplus votes were then distributed. The surplus is the candidate's vote minus the quota. Hutchins's surplus was thus 1,446,231 minus 536,533, or 909,698. These votes were distributed to whichever candidates received the no 2 votes on Hutchins's ballots.

After Hutchins's surplus votes were distributed, the count looked like this:

 Votes Total after distributed distribution -------------------------------------------------------------------- HUTCHINS E 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 1 FAULKNER * 908,567 (99.9) 911,481 24.3 ELECTED 3 Forshaw * 196 (00.0) 1,060 00.0 Stephens 130 (00.0) 2,681 00.1 

 Oldfield 186 (00.0) 359,840 09.6 Burston 6 (00.0) 576 00.0 O'Regan 4 (00.0) 789 00.0 

 HEFFERNAN * E 1,371,578 36.5 ELECTED 2 Tierney * 13 (00.0) 1,454 00.0 Macdonald * 1 (00.0) 1,690 00.0 Fierravanti-Wells 1 (00.0) 856 00.0 

 Ridgeway 278 (00.0) 272,579 07.3 Baird 5 (00.0) 462 00.0 Reddy 3 (00.0) 2,166 00.1 Mendelssohn 4 (00.0) 813 00.0 

 Sutton 66 (00.0) 80,139 02.1 Moore 2 (00.0) 750 00.0 Rhiannon 1 (00.0) 250 00.0 Russell 0 542 00.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 909,698 3,755,725 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It will be seen that virtually all of Hutchins's surplus votes went to Faulkner, the second candidate on the Labor ticket, and he was then elected. This is because all those voters who voted for the Labor party "above the line" had their second preferences automatically allocated to the second Labor candidate. All parties lodge a copy of their How-to-Vote Card with the Electoral Commission, and the Commission follows this card in allocating the preferences of those who vote "above the line." If a voter wished to vote, for example, Hutchins 1 and Heffernan 2, they would need to vote "below the line" by numbering each of the 69 candidates.

In the third count, Heffernan's surplus was distributed and these votes elected Tierney. Faulkner's surplus was then distributed, but these were insufficient to elect Forshaw. Likewise, Tierney's surplus was insufficient to elect McDonald.

After this stage of the count, the remaining candidates in contention (that is, the leading candidates in the major party tickets) were in the following position:

 -------------------------------------------------------------------- HUTCHINS 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 1 FAULKNER * 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 3 Forshaw * 375,587 10.0 Oldfield 360,263 09.6 HEFFERNAN * 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 2 Tierney * 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 4 Macdonald * 300,313 08.0 Ridgeway 273,109 07.3 Sutton 80,186 02.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3,755,725 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

All the other candidates were then eliminated one by one, starting with the candidates with the smallest number of votes, and their votes were distributed among the candidates remaining in contention in accordance with the preferences expressed on their ballot papers. After this process was completed, the remaining candidates were in the following position:

 -------------------------------------------------------------------- HUTCHINS 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 1 FAULKNER * 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 3 Forshaw * 450,446 12.0 Oldfield 402,154 10.7 HEFFERNAN * 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 2 Tierney * 536,533 14.3 ELECTED 4 Macdonald * 357,572 09.5 Ridgeway 286,157 07.6 Sutton 112,602 03.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3,755,725 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Sutton was then eliminated. 80% of Sutton's preferences went to Ridgeway, giving Ridgeway more votes than McDonald. McDonald was then eliminated, and 93% of his preferences went to Ridgeway, thus giving him a quota and the fifth Senate seat. Ridgeway's surplus was then distributed, and 96% of his votes went to Forshaw, thus giving him a quota and the sixth seat. Oldfield was the last remaining unsuccessful candidate.

A final point needs to be explained. It was noted above that when a candidate polls more votes than the quota, their suplus vote is distributed to other candidates. Thus, in the example given above, Hutchins's surplus was 909,698, or 1,446,231 (his primary vote) minus 536,533 (the quota). It may be asked: which 909,698 of Hutchins's 1,446,231 primary votes are distributed? Are they chosen at random from among his votes? In fact they are all distributed, but at less than their full value. Since 909,698 is 62.9% of 1,446,231, each of Hutchins's votes is transferred to other candidates as 62.9% of a vote: each vote is said to have a transfer value of 0.629. This avoids any possibility of an unrepresentative sample of his votes being transferred. After each count the candidate's progressive total is rounded down to the nearest whole number. This means that a small number of votes are lost by fractionation in the final count.

Double Dissolutions

Under the Australian Constitution, the House of Representatives and the Senate have equal legislative powers, except that appropriations (money) bills must originate in the House. This means that a government can be seriously frustrated by a Senate majority determined to reject its legislation. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (in full, An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia) is the primary constitutional text of the Commonwealth of Australia. ...

In these circumstances, section 57 of the Constitution allows the government to call a double dissolution election: an election in which the whole House of Representatives and the whole Senate are re-elected.

Section 57 provides:

If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously.

Section 57 also provides that if after a double dissolution, the Senate again rejects the bill or bills which were the subject of the dissolution, the government may convene a joint sitting of the two Houses to consider the bill or bills.

There were double dissolution elections in 1914, 1951, 1974, 1975, 1983 and 1987. Only after the 1974 double dissolution was a joint sitting held. In 1914 the Cook government was defeated at the election, and in 1983 the Fraser government was likewise defeated. At the 1951 double dissolution the Menzies government won a majority in both Houses, as did the Fraser government in 1975. The 1987 double dissolution produced a continued Senate deadlock, and the Hawke government decided not to proceed with the bill which was the trigger for the double dissolution and election. 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rt Hon Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook (7 December 1860 - 30 July 1947), Australian politician and sixth Prime Minister of Australia, was born in Silverdale, a small mining town near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. ... Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (born 21 May 1930), Australian politician and 22nd Prime Minister of Australia, came to power in the circumstances of the dismissal of the Whitlam government. ... Rt Hon Sir Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (20 December 1894 – 14 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia serving eighteen and a half years. ... Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (born 21 May 1930), Australian politician and 22nd Prime Minister of Australia, came to power in the circumstances of the dismissal of the Whitlam government. ... Hon Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (born December 9, 1929), Australian trade union leader and politician, was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia. ...

To preserve the balance of power between the two Houses in a joint sitting, Section 24 of the Constitution provides that the number of members of House of Representatives shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the number of Senators. This is known as the "nexus clause." An attempt to remove it from the Constitution was defeated at a referendum in 1967. 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ballot Access

Candidates for either House must formally nominate with the Electoral Commission. The signature of the Registered Officer of a party registered under the Electoral Act is required for a party-endorsed candidate. A registered party must have at least 500 members. Fifty signatures of eligible voters are required for an independent candidate. A deposit of $350 is required for a candidate for the House, and $700 for a candidate for the Senate; this deposit is refunded if the candidate or group gains 4% of the first preference votes. To receive public funding, a party or candidate must receive at least 4% of the vote.[10]

Politics of Australia
Government: Parliament - House of Representatives - Senate - Monarchy - Governor-General
Federal electoral system: Electoral divisions
Australian legislative elections: 1993 - 1996 - 1998 - 2001 - 2004 - 2007
State and territory governments: NSW - NT - Qld. - SA - Tas. - Vic. - WA - State electoral systems
Local government in Australia
Political parties: Democrats - Greens - Labor Party - Progressive Alliance - Country Liberal Party - Family First Party - Liberal Party - National Party - One Nation

Hon John Howard MP, Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Liberal Party Hon Kim Beazley MP, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Australian Labor Party The politics of Australia take place within the framework of parliamentary democracy. ... Australian National Flag For more information, see Australian Government, Flying the Flag - Its an Honour!. Created by User:E Pluribus Anthony File links The following pages link to this file: Australia Politics of Australia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Australian Labor Party Australian Democrats Australian Capital Territory Talk:Australian rules... Parliament House, Canberra The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. ... Australian House of Representatives chamber Entrance to the House of Representatives The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia. ... Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Australian Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, in 1952 and 2002 The title Queen of Australia has existed since 1973, when the Parliament of Australia passed the Royal Style and Titles Act (1973). ... The Governor-General of Australia is a position established by the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act to sign legislation into law, appoint judges and ministers and perform many other important duties. ... Maps of electoral Divisions The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 150 single-member constituencies called Divisions. ... Elections in Australia gives information on elections and election results in Australia. ... Legislative elections were held in Australia on March 13, 1993. ... Legislative elections were held in Australia on 2 March 1996. ... Legislative elections were held in Australia on 3 October 1998. ... Legislative elections were held in Australia on 10 November 2001. ... Legislative elections were held in Australia on 9 October 2004. ... The next Australian legislative election is expected to take place in 2007. ... The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ... Official crest of the Northern Territory The Government of the Northern Territory is a unicameral parliament (i. ... Queensland Government Logo The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the Queensland Government. ... The form of the Government of South Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ... The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ... The form of the Government of Victoria is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1855, although it has been amended many times since then. ... The form of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then. ... The legislatures of the Australian states and territories all follow the Westminster model described in the Australian electoral system. ... Australia has two tiers of subnational government: state (or territory) government and local government. ... Political parties in Australia lists political parties in Australia. ... The Australian Democrats (in regular parlance, just the Democrats), is an Australian social liberal party formed in 1977 from the earlier Australia Party by Don Chipp, who left the Liberal Party of Australia to do so. ... The Australian Greens is the national Greens party in Australia. ... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor liberal party in Australia. ... In Australian politics, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) is the Northern Territory equivalent to the Liberal and National parties - the Country part of the partys name is a relic of when the National Party was called the Country Party. ... The Family First Party is a political party in Australia. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party, originally called the Country Party, adopting the name of National Country Party in 1975 and adopting its present name in 1982. ... One Nation is a conservative, nationalist and protectionist political group in Australia. ...

External links

• The Parliament of Australia
  
• The Australian Electoral Commission
  
• Adam Carr's Australian Election Archive

• The Australian Labor Party
  
• The Liberal Party of Australia
  
• The National Party of Australia
  

• Proportional Representation Society of Australia