Things Electoral

Things Electoral - a summary

Anyway, here are answers to the questions you did not want to ask:

This is not about which boxes you mark 1, 2, 3 etc., it is about marking boxes and being counted.

The business of an electoral official is NEVER to tell you what to vote. The official’s business is to ensure you can vote. (I am no longer an official of any kind but I keep to that idea in my posts.)

Legal/illegal help to voters

It is illegal for anyone to interfere in your right to freely and independently cast your vote as you wish.

It is legal for a voter to obtain assistance if they need it.

Compulsory

Enrolment is compulsory for all adult citizens. The Australian Electoral Commission seeks out people who should be enrolled.

Voting is compulsory. That actually boils down to having your name marked off and accepting and returning ballot papers.

Ballots are secret

You return your ballot papers but they are not examined until later. There is no way for those reading the ballot papers to know which is yours. Unless - you write your name on it! In which case the ballot paper is rejected as informal.

Electors sometimes return ballot papers that are blank. Nothing can be done with such a “vote”; it is informal. It is kept with all informals.

Preferences

Your ballot papers have the names of all who want the job you control. Each name has a box. You are sometimes (eg, Commonwealth) required to number every box.

If you fail to number every box in a Commonwealth election for the lower house your ballot paper will have no effect on the result, regardless of who got your “1”.

Spoilt

Voter may make a mistake. They are entitled to correct and make clear their actual vote. Corrections must not be initialled in any way. An elector is entitled to exchange their spoilt ballot paper for a new one. (The spoilt goes into an envelope and is counted with “unused”.)

Accounting 

All ballot papers must be accounted for. The categories are “used” and “unused”.

Also accounted for are all votes in envelopes -  received postal vote certificate envelopes and absent vote envelopes, etc The voter’s name has to be marked off. After the preliminary scrutiny the envelopes are opened, keeping the identity of the voter secret. The de-enveloped ballot papers are subsequently scrutinised (counted) and recorded, as with other votes.

All accounted for? See the recent weird stories from South Australia; the near miss at Hurstville (Barton Division) 2025, etc. Notice the gravity with which these matters were dealt. The strength of questioning. We are serious about our elections being secure and reliable. Yes, human beings make mistakes. Mistakes are detected and addressed.

https://voternotes.blogspot.com/2026/04/south-australian-election-2026.html

Donkey votes

I suppose some electors do just start at the top and write in successive numbers from 1. Maybe they do? I do not know if any attempt is made to assess this question. (Certainly I never did.) Any such a ballot paper is definitely formal and is simply included in the count(s) during the scrutiny. If there are any donkeys they probably make negligible difference, is my guess.

Scrutineers

Each polling place or voting centre may have scrutineers. These are vital unpaid volunteers appointed by their candidate to observe and, if necessary, speak up. They do not answer to the Electoral Commission but must obey the law.

The Scrutiny

The counting of the votes is called the Scrutiny. The paid electoral officials must carry out the task. Scrutiny also includes preliminary actions, such as verification of security seals and cross checks. For some parts of the scrutiny signatures need to be checked (eg postal and absent envelopes).

Marked roll

Every elector has their name marked on a roll in order to be given ballot papers. All of the rolls used in an electorate have to be combined into a single roll. This was called the “marked roll”.

Reading of rolls is now done by machine scanning. Some names may be marked more than once. Any multiple voting instances will become visible in the amalgamation process, which usually takes place later. This process also reveals (apparent) non-voters.

Duplicate voting

Every issuing point has a complete roll of the electorate. In theory that means a person (criminal) could risk voting many, many times. They would need to know the full name and address of an actual elector, or use their own name. All of those ballots would receive the same scrutiny as authentic voters’ papers.

I once heard, long after the event, of a person who had checked the “Deaths” notices in the day or two before polling day and then risked voting in the name of the deceased in each subdivision polling place (as were in use then) for the opponent. The fact would have emerged in the roll compilation and checking for “deceased voters”. Nothing could be done about the fake votes; in that particular electorate the actual winner’s margin was huge (something like 70% primary vote), and it was before election funding, so the effect was nil. 

Election funding

Candidates who get enough first preference votes (4%) may be reimbursed for their election expenditures. That means each ballot paper has a potential value. In the 2026 election, the amount for your ballot paper was $3.499.

Winners

In any election a candidate may gain more than 50% of the first preferences. That means they are elected - they won.

If there is no winner, the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated from the count. Their ballot papers are distributed to the voters’ second preferences on their ballot paper. And so on until only two candidates are in the count and one is the winner.

(In theory there could be a tie, if there is an even number of valid ballot papers in the count. I doubt it has ever happened and if it did there would need to be a fresh election.)

Two chambers

Apart from Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, and Northern Territory, the Parliaments in Australia have upper and lower houses. They all have their own histories. They came first. All members are elected to their seat.

In older times the first parliamentary body was likely called a Council, which advised the Governor of the State. People (men) were appointed to the Council; eventually election began to be used and an elected lower house was legislated.

In 1901 the States handed power to the (new) Commonwealth which always had two separate elected houses; House of Representatives and the Senate.

Employment

Election work is done by paid people in a large temporary workforce. The management and top level organisation is done by full-time professionals.

Election officials may or may not read and understand and follow the instructions they are given. Sometimes they confuse things. See the unfortunate Missabotti example (previous post).

Reading is the answer 

The voter will make an effective vote if they read and follow the instructions on their ballot paper. It then does not impact if the election official or someone gives wrong advice, as does happen (personal experience in Coburg, 2016; see also Missabotti).

https://voternotes.blogspot.com/2025/10/who-got-it-wrong-missabotti.html

Senator term

Senators normally start duty on 1 July after the election and end 6 years later.

Usually only half of State Senators (ie 6) retire on 30 June. They are eligible to nominate for reelection.

The Territory Senators retire each election.

(If there is a [rare] "double dissolution" of the Federal Parliament all Senate positions are vacant.)

Electors vote for the seat in their Division (150 total) and for their Senators (States have 6 to fill).

Upper House terms

See above for Senators.

State Parliaments control their own legislation (but can not conflict with Federal legislation). So the length of service of members is a State matter:

NSW electors vote for the member in their local District (93 in total) and for 21 seats (half of their LC) in their Legislative Council, which is a statewide poll.

https://elections.nsw.gov.au/elections/how-voting-works/voting-in-new-south-wales/how-does-a-state-election-work

VIC electors vote for their local District (88 in total) and for all 5 seats in their LC Region.

https://vec.vic.gov.au/voting/types-of-elections/state-elections

Voter numbers

In 2025 there were 16,438,494 total votes recorded in the Australian Senate election. Some of those were informal and did not affect the result. Some eligible people did not record any vote.

Court of Disputed Returns

If something seems wrong to a candidate they may seek a finding in the “Court of Disputed Returns”. That does not happen very often, but did happen in 2025.

The Court could order a fresh election (very, very rare).

Accountability 

Running elections is a serious responsibility. The Commissions are bound to follow the law. All officials are bound by law. The Commissioners answer and report to the Parliament.

If there is a failure (such as lost ballot papers!) the election result may be taken to the Court. 

Apparent illegalities may be referred to the Police.

Numbers of voters

I have summed the results for the Senate in 2025, as this is easier than dealing with all 150 Divisions. (Whilst it ought not to be so, due to errors, there will likely be some difference between the national total of voters for the House of Representatives and the Senate. It will not be really significant.)

NSW  5,219,341

VIC    4,232,062

QLD   3,326,040

WA     1,665,347

SA     1,202,114

TAS   384,460

ACT   298,737

NT     110,393

2025 Total voters  16,438,494

(It is interesting that, under our Constitution, all States have 12 Senators; the Territories have 2 each. Senate votes are not one vote, one value, Australia-wide, are they!)

Local Government

You also vote in your Council. How Councils are elected is a State law matter.

Some Council Local Government Area electorates are divided into "wards".

Some wards have more than one member. Lots of variety!

If you relocate, change your electoral enrolment (note the poster above).

When it is time to vote, read the ballot paper!

Still there is more!

Further work follows.

Yours sincerely

Allen Hampton

Coburg

achamptonmob@gmail.com

 Image: Historical AEC enrolment poster downloaded from AEC website

Images: 2025 ballot papers