Voting in the Senate

by | 3 Sep 2013 | SLAM

I love democracy THIS muchTo elect 6 Senators for NSW, there are 110 candidates, in 44 groups.

Sustainable Living Armidale (SLA) is not politically aligned or affiliated, but we do encourage engagement with political issues, particularly those issues that affect the sustainability of our local community in the face of resource depletion and climate change.

You have a choice of two ways to vote:

Either Above the line. Place a ‘1’ in the box for the party or group of your choice

or Below the line *

Number every box in the order of your choice

* Note: if you choose below the line, and do NOT number every box, your vote is informal, and will not be counted at all.

If you are planning to vote above the line, do you really know where your vote will go?

The Australian Electoral Commission website shows how the parties will direct your vote when you put ‘1’ above the line.

You can view their preferences at: http://www.aec.gov.au/election/nsw/gvt.htm

It seems certain that 5 of the 6 Senate seats for NSW will go to the Coalition and the Labor Party. If the sixth Senate seat goes to a smaller party, it would likely either be the Greens, One Nation or the Shooters & Fishers.

If you care about the Senate result, check out where your ‘1’ above the line will direct your vote to the 110 candidates. It’s interesting. Here are some examples of some parties’ orders of preferences:

  • The Wikileaks Party puts the Shooters & Fishers (49-50) ahead of the Greens (57-62)
  • Building Australia Party, puts Shooters & Fishers (50,51) and One Nation (52-54) ahead of the Greens (101-106)
  • Uniting Australia Party puts Shooters & Fishers (10,11) ahead of the Greens (86-91) and One Nation (108-110)
  • Bullet Train for Australia puts Shooters & Fishers (59,60) ahead of the Greens (74-79)
  • Voluntary Euthanasia Party has Greens (38-43) ahead of One Nation (44-46)
  • Carers Alliance puts One Nation (31-33) and Shooters & Fishers (52,53) ahead of the Greens (89-94)
  • Stable Population Party has 3 different preference lists, so their vote will be divided equally into 3. In all three lists they put One Nation (41-43) ahead of the Greens (75-80)

So, be sure that the Party or Group you’re thinking of voting for, above the line, is directing its preferences the way you would like.  

Further information can be found on Crikey – Senate: New South Wales