How do preferences work in Australia?
👉 The order in which you number your choices is the way it will be counted. If your first choice doesn’t get the majority of overall votes, then your vote is counted for your next choice until there is a winner. Your vote will always be used, it can’t be wasted.
Can a party give away my preferences?
👉 A party can not give away preferences, that is a myth.
How does the numbering work?
👉 Your first choice is counted first. If that candidate loses, then your vote is not wasted, but goes to your second choice. And If that candidate loses then your vote is not wasted but goes to your third choice and so on.
👉 Practically this means that all first preferences will be counted first, but if a candidate doesn’t get an absolute majority of first preference votes then the second preference votes will be counted of each of the least popular candidates. This will continue until someone gets an absolute majority.
Can I waste my vote by not putting Liberal or Labor first?
👉 No. You cannot waste your vote in the preferential voting system since if a candidate doesn’t get enough votes to win then your preferences are used for your next choice.
What are preference deals?
👉 A preference deal only means that a party will recommend how voters should vote on their “How to vote” cards that they print out. It is only a recommendation, most people throw these cards out.
👉 “How to vote” cards are made simply to sway voters who are undecided, don’t care about voting, or that want to follow what their party recommends.
But the media said this party gave their preferences to that party?
👉 The media lies. The preference system is notoriously confusing and the media has no incentive to clear it up for you because the mainstream media and mainstream political parties benefit off of each other. A party cannot give preferences to another party. Only the voter decides preferences at the ballot box.
Is the preference system a bad system? Should we have first past the post like the US and UK?
👉 The preference system benefits small parties over major parties because votes cannot be wasted. This is why the preference system is never explained by the media or majors because if everyone knew that, less people would preference the majors first.
So how should I vote?
👉 Number the candidate you want first, and then go in order from best to worst.
👉 The strategy here is that you will probably know who will get the most votes, liberal or labor, so if you only like one of these only partially, but are worried about the other getting in, then you can put the one you like above the other and also put all your actual best choices above both and if it comes down to the wire, your vote will still be used until someone wins.
👉 Example: Your vote is Libertarians > People First > One Nation > Liberals > Labor. Most first preferences will probably go to Liberal or Labor, so if it’s a battle between the two and your other choices run out in order for Liberal or labor to reach an absolute majority, then your vote will now be a Liberal vote, not a Labor vote. Your vote wasn’t wasted.
Do I have to number every box?
👉 Yes. Otherwise it’ll be invalid.
Alex James