This page gives you information on how to ensure you cast a valid vote and that your vote fully achieves your intention.
SUMMARY
1. FROM MONDAY 9 MAY YOU CAN CAST A PRE-POLL VOTE AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS.
2. YOU CAN CAST A POSTAL VOTE AS LONG AS YOU APPLY BY WEDNESDAY 18 MAY.
Make sure your vote is both valid & fulfils your intention:
• Don’t unintentionally cast an informal vote (see “Casting a valid vote”, below.)
• If you can’t be present on election day, vote early. (see “How to vote early”, below.)
• House of Representatives (Lower House): You must number every box on the ballot paper.
• Senate (Upper House): You must vote... EITHER “above the line” (number at least 6 boxes) OR “below the line” (number at least 12 boxes) (See “Voting for the Senate”, below.)
• Australia uses a preferential voting system. How preferential voting works is complicated. To maximise the power of your vote, you must understand how preferences work. So here is a link to the Australian Electoral Commission's page on preferential voting: Preferential Voting
• Your preferred candidate may not win a seat, but how they direct their preferences can influence who does win one. (See "How Preferences are distributed", below.)
CASTING A VALID VOTE
You need to be super-mindful that to cast a valid vote in a Federal election for the House of Representatives, you must mark every box on the ballot paper, in the order of your preference; starting with a “1” for the candidate you most want to win.
If you don’t have a How To Vote card from the candidate you want to support, the ballot paper does show you each candidate’s party affiliation and, for the “established parties”, their logo. Independents are usually identified as “Independent”, although some independents prefer to leave this blank.
HOW TO VOTE EARLY
Key dates:
Monday 9 May: Pre-poll voting starts, at specified locations. You can vote at these places any time up until the 21 May election. https://aec.gov.au/election/voting.htm#start As the AEC’s website notes, the list of pre-poll locations might be updated, so check carefully and “make your own enquiries”!
Saturday 21 May: Election Day. Polling booths are open from 8.00am to 6.00pm.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) will make further announcements about whether an i-vote (online voting) option will be available, possible “telephone voting” options, and any other new and special provisions, to enable people to avoid crowded polling booths on election day.
The AEC sends you a ballot paper, in response; then you fill it out and post it back. Currently the AEC website is saying that ballot papers will be sent to postal vote applicants no earlier than 26 April (nominations close on 21 April and the draw for places on the ballot will be the next day; they then need a few days to print the ballot papers).
Voting by post could mean that you’ll be filling out your ballot paper before candidates can get a How To Vote card into your letterbox. You might be voting without any advice on how to allocate your preferences. You can do your own research on this, for instance, by visiting the website of the party/candidate to whom you intend to give your first preference.
Pre-poll voting This means you can turn up, from Monday 9 May onwards, to designated places, tick your name off the roll and cast your vote. Done! Candidates usually try to have their volunteers at these pre-polling places, to hand out How To Vote cards, but it doesn’t always happen so, again, do your own research if you want to follow your favoured candidate’s advice. Note, too, there are only a handful of Pre-poll booths in each electorate, compared to the number of polling booths on election day itself. Your local council chambers is usually one of them.
Absentee voting This is for when you can’t vote at one of your local polling booths (within your electorate) on election day (and for whatever reason, haven’t cast a pre poll vote or postal vote). Theoretically, you can vote absentee at any polling booth, on election day - anywhere.
Larger booths are more likely to have the skills to facilitate this process but, if at all possible, use one of the other options instead: postal or pre-poll.
Voting on-line (i-Vote) The AEC will announce if and when this method is robust enough to use in the Federal election.
Voting in person Of course, this conventional option will still apply. Polling booths open from 8.00am to 6.00pm on election day. There might be QR code check-in requirements (these might vary from state to state) and social distancing.
Because of Covid, volunteers assisting candidates might not be allowed to hand out How To Vote cards within 100m of the entry to the polling booth, meaning many voters might walk in to vote without the benefit of a How To Vote card. Again, you can hope that the candidates letterbox you ahead of polling day. Otherwise, do your own research.
And finally, Covid means there might be no sausage sizzles!
VOTING FOR THE SENATE
The Senate ballot paper has a big horizontal line across it. Above the line are boxes - one for each “Group” (usually the established parties, plus independents who have decided to form a group). If you chose to vote “above the line” you need to number six boxes, in order of your preference. You can number more, if you wish (assuming there are more than six groups).
Below the line, in columns, are the names of the individuals who belong to the Group under which they are listed. There can be as few as two candidates on this list, and not more than six (there are only six vacancies to be filled in each state at a Senate election; and two in each of the ACT and the NT). The number of candidates in each Grouped team will reflect the number of vacancies to be filled in your state or territory.
At the right-hand side of the below-the line section, there might be a column called “Ungrouped” with the names of individual candidates who are not running in any group - loners!
If you vote below the line, you must number 12 candidates, in order of your preference. You can number all the candidates from the party you prefer, then all the candidates from the party you prefer next. You can jump around from column to column, if you want, including in and out of the “ungrouped” column, but you must number 12 boxes to cast a valid vote. You can number as many more as you wish.
If you vote for a candidate in the ungrouped column you don’t have to stay in that column in allocating your preferences. For instance, you can put a “1” next to a candidate in that “ungrouped” column and put your other 11 numbers against candidates whose names appear below the line in the other Group columns. What you can’t do is vote above and below the line. You can’t number a party group or two, or more, above the line, then number individuals below the line.
Remember: Number 6 boxes above the line OR 12 boxes below the line.
INDICATING YOUR PREFERENCES
(you might want to number every box, not just the minimum required)
Suffice it to say that if you vote above the line, there’s a point in the count at which, in certain circumstances, your preferences might end up with a candidate or party which wasn’t apparent to you.
The best safeguard against your vote ending up where you didn’t intend, is to vote below the line and number many more than the minimum 12 boxes.
Good luck!
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Authorised by R Whitington, Pymble 2073 for 1in50 Incorporated (a not for profit association incorporated in New South Wales: INC2100990) This web page is powered by the lovely people at: