![]() ![]() Now assume that candidate A got 90 1 st preference votes, candidate B got 76 1 st preference votes and candidate C got 34 1 st preference votes. To explain, let’s use a simplified example, with lower numbers of voters just for convenience of explanation.įor example, let’s assume there were 3 candidates in a seat or electorate where there were 200 voters in all. Put simply, the winner of such an election is the candidate who gets the most votes. It is called ‘first past the post’ or a ‘simple majority’. To help explain how preferential votes are counted, I would first like to explain the more common style of voting used in many countries around the world. The candidate you like least of all will be number 3, in this case. Your first preference is the candidate you want to win, but you then number the others according to who you would prefer, if your candidate doesn’t actually win. If there are 3 candidates, you must number them 1 to 3. So what does preferential voting mean? In short, it means that you must number, in sequence, all the candidates on the ballot paper, starting from 1. Usually, there are between 3 and 10 candidates who will stand for each seat, hoping they will be elected. They must elect one person to represent them in the lower house of parliament in Canberra. The area of land for each electorate varies in size, but importantly each electorate has around 90,000 Australians eligible to vote. This is the house where the government is formed.Įach seat in the lower house represents an area of Australia called an electorate. I am going to talk mostly about preferential voting in the lower house which currently has 151 seats in total. Suffice to say that there are two houses of parliament federally – the lower house (also called the House of Representatives) and the upper house (also called the Senate). You can check out Podcast 21 if you want to. I won’t repeat all the details of how our federal government works. Note that I don’t claim to be an expert on this topic, and for full and detailed information you should refer to the Parliamentary Education Office website ( ) or the website of the Australian Electoral Commission ( ) In this podcast, I would like to explain some of the features of preferential voting and how a candidate wins such an election. I think that such an understanding is important, if we are to have trust in our electoral process. Actually, it’s amazing how many Australians don’t really understand how preferential voting works, even though they vote successfully in every election. I always take a keen interest in our elections as, in my opinion, our democracy is central to our stable way of life here in Australia. There, I mention that we have preferential voting in Australia and, in addition, we have compulsory voting in both federal, state and some local government elections. I have previously explained our federal government system in Podcast 21 ( ). We recently had a federal election here in Australia, to decide which political party will govern Australia at the federal level for the next 3 years. (This podcast is 16 minutes and 54 seconds long.) Podcast Number 139 – Preferential Voting in Australian Elections Learn English while learning about daily life in Australia, with Rob McCormack
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