And still there is more

Polling day

Tickets and preferences

I hope ticket voting is, or will be, a thing of the past (though I fear for Victoria in November, 2026). In ticket voting the parties may make deals between themselves and control how your vote's preferences are allocated.

The parties encourage a simple and quick "1". They want you to leave the rest to them.

Preferences are vital if no candidate for a lower house seat has over 50% of the valid votes. (Then the lowest scoring candidate's votes get to be transferred to the other candidates.)

Parties hand out "how-to-vote" material. They tell you how to number your boxes. That is called allocating preferences. The parties may have made deals but you still decide.

To number or not to number

Is it hard to know how to fill the boxes? You might use the "how-to-vote" of the candidate you most do NOT want. (Never!) Then, just number in exactly the opposite order to their idea. They have helped you. (They end up with your highest number in their box!)

Remember - if the preferential voting is compulsory you put a valid number in every box.

Skip the queue

Some people really do dislike being in a queue. My picture is of an actual voting place on voting day (ie, polling place on polling day). I took it at 10:40 on 03/05/25. The party workers are correctly outside the gate of the school. You can not see, but voters were lined up right out the school door and down to the school gate. I came back about 1:30 and it was much quieter. Some of the party workers had gone. There was no queue in the yard. None.

That is the usual story. Many people want to vote in the morning ("get it over with"?) and some even line up before 8 am.

The queue can easily be avoided by going to vote after lunch. (I think there could be a queue there again at 5:30 or so - it would be a risk.)

Times are changing and with huge numbers of "early voters" the patterns may alter a little more.

Skip the polling place

These days there is a lot of "voting early". In particular, a lot of voters attending at early voting centres during the week. If you visit such a centre you will probably be asked if you are entitled to vote. 

The early voting centres develop queues at times. A lot depends on location and staffing.

If you go to an early voting centre just over the border of your electorate you will probably find very few other voters from your electorate doing the same. This works because adjacent voting centres are being equipped with the elector roll of the adjacent electorate, as well as their own.

You can vote at any centre in your State but if the officials do not have your roll it takes longer. That is the "Absent vote".

Envelope votes

If for any reason a voter's name cannot be marked off their folded vote goes in an envelope to be returned to the correct electorate. The name is marked there and the envelope can be opened, if all is correct.

A number of folded votes are later unfolded at the same time. The officials cannot tell whose vote they are counting.

 

“Declaration votes” - the votes in envelopes

Postal and Absent votes come in envelopes which have to be checked for authenticity. They are then opened but the ballot paper is simply placed in a box.

Name not found votes. I used to call these “Section Votes”. The elector is given the same ballots but they are put in an envelope which is signed and sealed. The envelope goes back to be verified, or not.

Name already marked votes. If a name is already marked off on the roll the elector can not be given an ordinary vote. Their ballot papers go into an envelope, as above.

Postal vote applications

The easiest way to apply for a postal vote is to phone the provided Commission number. It is possible (but difficult) to get a paper Commission application form and mail it in.

Political parties deliver postal vote application packs to homes. This is a form of advertising. If one of their forms is used, it is much better to mail the application in to the Commission (post free). If the voter uses a party reply envelope their application first goes to the third party (ie the political party office). The party then has access to all the voter's personal information. The voter relies on the party workers promptly forwarding the application to the Commission.

Only the Commission can issue ballot papers.

Postal vote clock

The voter making a postal vote is required to do so before the end of polling (ie, before 6 pm on the Saturday, Polling Day). The certificate used to enclose the ballot papers requires a statement to that effect.

Registered postal voters

Some people can register as regular postal voters. They are then automatically sent ballot papers once they are printed. Qualified voters can register online, or by using a paper application form.

Failed declaration votes 

If the preliminary examination of the envelope fails (eg, not signed), the envelope is rejected, fully recorded, and preserved, unopened. Its fate is to be pulped with the rest.

Too late votes

There has to be a cut-off time. It is possible for an envelope to be received after all counting is complete. Similarly it is possible for a Postal Vote application to be too late (but see below).

Follow up

The full-time Commission officers (public servants) have to follow up on non-voters (apparent non-voters) and the people who made failed declaration votes. That may involve fines or new enrolments, depending on the issue.

I wonder if Councils deal directly with their own non-voters?

Media

Until a new Government is decided the media take an avid interest in matters electoral, as do the candidates and parties.

This pressure has seen the “two candidate preferred” rapid count of ballots where there is no absolute majority and the pressure to declare a result, ie, who is elected.

Decisions are made and changes proposed to give more speedy final results. (See previous post re AEC “Wishlist”.)

Weirdness?

Some things are just weird!

See the actual rules for Postal Vote application, or for “early voting”.

See that Postal Votes can be applied for up until late on the Wednesday before polling day. (Once upon a time we had a post office that might have delivered between Wednesday night and Friday afternoon…)

See time limit on Postal Vote completion.

These weirdnesses seem to have arisen for reason in historical circumstances. Inertia keeps them in place.

Slow change

The inertia: Altering the electoral laws involves getting an instrument passed by Parliament. That does not happen easily or quickly!

Yours sincerely

Allen Hampton

Coburg

achamptonmob@gmail.com

Image: self