Where your vote could end up

Menzies House realises that many do understand how our voting system works. However, given the unprecedented number of candidates on the Senate ballot we hope this information is helpful.

Readers should note that because of very complicated preference trading, accuracy of this post can't be guaranteed and should therefore be used as a guide requiring further investigation by the voter. GC.Ed.@L.

A message from John Anderson AO (Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia) 

Don't risk your Senate vote this election.

Last week 36 parties lodged their preferences for the Queensland Senate. Many of them you would never have heard of.

The result has been a spiderweb of backroom deals that seek to funnel votes into a Senate spot. All of these deals are a replay of the negotiations that installed the minority government three years ago and they threaten to continue the madness and chaos of the last three years.

None of this information is available on Senate how to vote cards but voters should know that if you put a 1 above the line for the following parties your vote goes on a wild ride.

• A vote for Palmer is a vote for the Greens.

• A vote for Katter is a vote for Labor.

• A vote for the Family First and other minor Christian parties is a vote for KAP's pro gay marriage James Blundell in the senate.

Most voters have yet to discover the complicated party-preference deals for people who vote “above the line” on the Senate ballot. Preference arrangements can viewed at www.aec.gov.au. Previous experience required.

From News Weekly: In what is sad news for children’s right to both a mother and a father, the hotly contested sixth Senate seat in Queensland may end up with the Greens unless Family First, the KAP or the LNP can take the prized sixth spot.

The deals mean that the Greens are preferencing the KAP ahead of the LNP; Labor is preferencing the KAP first; and, in a bizarre decision, Clive Palmer’s PUP is preferencing the Greens ahead of both the LNP and Labor. LNP’s third and fourth Senate candidates, who are social conservatives, have missed out on early preferences that they were probably expecting from some minor par-ties, including the DLP, the KAP and Family First.

If the KAP’s James Blundell wins the coveted sixth Senate seat, all eyes will be watching to see whether he adheres to party policy or his personally expressed preferences on marriage, such as when he told the media that, in the event of a conscience vote, he would “fall on the side of freedom of choice”.

Here is a graph of Senate preferences - good luck!

Beware of confusion on Senate ballot paper:

Box "A" is Liberal Democrats (NOT the Coalition)

Box "Y" is Liberal National Party (Abbott)

 

Comments

[Allan]

1.

It may be well worth you while having a look at the link below. You can print a copy of the Senate ballot paper based upon your own choices:

http://www.clueyvoter.com/

[Nona Florat]

2.

Preferences belong to the voter, not to any political party. Authentic democracy must be informed and responsible. It would seem that the majority of voters give a party a "blank cheque" without even being aware how preferences are allocated. Isn't the future of our country worth a little extra time and trouble?

Go to http://aec.gov.au/election/who-are-the-candidates.htm and click on your state, than click on Group Voting Tickets. If you are not totally satisfied with preference allocations of your preferred party, the answer is to vote below the line.

The white voting paper may appear a big challenge, and seem totally confusing, but not so if you number the squares in advance, print and take to the polling booth. If the following simple strategies are followed there should be no problem.

Copy to a word document = Select (Click and hold down mouse button while copying start to finish), while highlighted CONTROL C(to copy), go to a blank document and paste = CONTROL V.

NOTE that if you download (save as) you will not be able to edit the document.

The candidates may be divided into (1) VOTE FOR,(2) PADDING, AND (3) VOTE AGAINST.

Each party names a lead condidate (vote 1) and a secondary candidate (vote 2). Major parties have more (vote 3, 4, 5, etc). Don't feel bound to number squares in this sequence. In the case of parties whom you wish to vote against, you my number in reverse order, that is place their lead candidate last.

Consider the policies and voting in Parliament records of individual candidates.

Another three years of Labor would be a disaster. The Greens constitute an even worse disaster.

When you have numbered squares for Liberal, National and/or your preferred minor parties, the next step is padding (miscellaneous minor parties). Don't spend much time on these, as it is almost impossible that any will be elected.

The go to parties to vote against. Again consider policies of individual candidates, Put the Greens last.

[Anton]

3.

Tony Abbott will force you to read Murdoch papers? Or are you just another intelligence free Labor cheerleader?