Australian Election 2022 - The Senate
May. 19th, 2022 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halloranelder*deep breath*
The Senate is a bit more complicated than the House of Representatives.
There are currently 76 Senators, 12 for each of the 6 states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia) plus 2 each for the ACT and the Northern Territory.
The State senators have fixed 6 year terms, with six of each batch being up for election every 3 years. The other four do not have fixed terms and instead follow the same rules as the House of Reps regarding how long they hold the position for.
Your Senate ballot paper is white, and to be honest, somewhat scary. On it will be columns of candidates, with each column being a single political party, or coalition, and another column with any independents that have chosen not to form a coalition.
Voting in the Senate has simplified in recent years however.
When voting, you have two options. You can vote "above the line" by numbering at least 6 of the boxes at the top of the columns above the line in order of preference. Or you can vote "below the line" by numbering at least 12 of the boxes in the columns below the line. You can number more in either case, but you have to stay completely above or below the line.
Like voting in the House of Reps, you vote number 1 to whoever you most likely want to be elected to senate, then 2 for the next best, and so on.
Voting above the line is treated the same as voting below the line and numbering the columns you've selected from top to bottom for those columns. If you want your votes to fall in a different order (perhaps you like numbering from the bottom instead of the top) you will need to vote below the line.
As long as the minimum number of votes are filled in, there is less of a problem with misnumbering than with the House of Reps ballot.
Once the polls are closed, counting begins. Due to the complexities of counting Senate votes, finalisation of the result may take a number of weeks.
Firstly, all the ballot papers are checked to ensure they are properly filled in (a Formal Vote) and the total number of Formal Votes is tallied. From that Formal Vote count the Quota is worked out. The Quota is the total number of Formal Votes, divided by the one more than the number of Senate seats for the state (fractions are ignored). This means that for the states, the quota is the Formal Vote count divided by seven (six seats plus one), while for the territories it's divided by three (two seats plus one).
Then the Primary votes are analysed, and any with more than the quota are elected to the Senate, starting at whoever has the most. Votes for these people are then reallocated according to their second preference, but don't count as a full vote any more. They only count as a partial vote based on how many votes more than the quota there were. For example, if the quota was 100,000 and a candidate received 250,000 Primary votes, each of those votes would pass on to the second preference as ((250,000 - 100,000) / 250,000) = 0.6 votes.
Once the all of the Primary votes above the quota are determined and reallocated, then the candidate with the lowest number of votes is excluded, and their votes reallocated according to their second preference. Then the votes counts are checked again and if anyone is over quota they are elected, and their votes reallocated as partial votes.
This repeats until all of the seats are filled.
An Example: 1998 New South Wales Senate election.
Formal Votes: 3,755,725
Seats: 6
Quota: 536,533 (3,755,725 divided by 7)
A total of 69 Candidates stood, and for clarity the bottom 50 aren't included.
After the Primary votes were tallied, this is how they stood:
(Note: the * indicates they were an existing senator re-contesting their seat. It doesn't have any bearing on the calculations required.)
Steve Hutchins had the most votes, and had greater than the quota, and was elected into the first Senate seat. Bill Heffernan had the second most votes and was also above the quota so he was elected into the second seat. Both candidates had their votes reallocated as partial votes to the second preferred candidate. This resulted in the following:
Most of Hutchins preferences went to Faulkner resulting in more than the quota, and Falkner was elected for the third Senate seat. After Falkner's preferences were distributed, no one remaining had more than the quota. This resulted in the following equivalent results for those still in with a chance:
At this stage, candidates at the bottom end get excluded and their votes reassigned. 50 exclusions later, the results look like this:
Tierney had enough to exceed the quota (finally) and was elected into the fourth Senate seat.
Sutton was then eliminated. 80% of Sutton's preferences went to Ridgeway, giving Ridgeway more votes than McDonald. McDonald was then eliminated, and 93% of his preferences went to Ridgeway, thus giving him a quota and the fifth Senate seat. Ridgeway's surplus was then distributed, and 96% of his votes went to Forshaw, thus giving him a quota and the sixth seat. Oldfield was the last remaining unsuccessful candidate.
(Large thanks to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_electoral_system) when I stole this example from)
As you can see, Senate elections are very complicated when working out the maths, and it is for this reason that the latest a Senate election can be is five weeks before 1 July. This ensures that there is sufficient time to determine the results.
The Senate is a bit more complicated than the House of Representatives.
There are currently 76 Senators, 12 for each of the 6 states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia) plus 2 each for the ACT and the Northern Territory.
The State senators have fixed 6 year terms, with six of each batch being up for election every 3 years. The other four do not have fixed terms and instead follow the same rules as the House of Reps regarding how long they hold the position for.
Your Senate ballot paper is white, and to be honest, somewhat scary. On it will be columns of candidates, with each column being a single political party, or coalition, and another column with any independents that have chosen not to form a coalition.
Voting in the Senate has simplified in recent years however.
When voting, you have two options. You can vote "above the line" by numbering at least 6 of the boxes at the top of the columns above the line in order of preference. Or you can vote "below the line" by numbering at least 12 of the boxes in the columns below the line. You can number more in either case, but you have to stay completely above or below the line.
Like voting in the House of Reps, you vote number 1 to whoever you most likely want to be elected to senate, then 2 for the next best, and so on.
Voting above the line is treated the same as voting below the line and numbering the columns you've selected from top to bottom for those columns. If you want your votes to fall in a different order (perhaps you like numbering from the bottom instead of the top) you will need to vote below the line.
As long as the minimum number of votes are filled in, there is less of a problem with misnumbering than with the House of Reps ballot.
Once the polls are closed, counting begins. Due to the complexities of counting Senate votes, finalisation of the result may take a number of weeks.
Firstly, all the ballot papers are checked to ensure they are properly filled in (a Formal Vote) and the total number of Formal Votes is tallied. From that Formal Vote count the Quota is worked out. The Quota is the total number of Formal Votes, divided by the one more than the number of Senate seats for the state (fractions are ignored). This means that for the states, the quota is the Formal Vote count divided by seven (six seats plus one), while for the territories it's divided by three (two seats plus one).
Then the Primary votes are analysed, and any with more than the quota are elected to the Senate, starting at whoever has the most. Votes for these people are then reallocated according to their second preference, but don't count as a full vote any more. They only count as a partial vote based on how many votes more than the quota there were. For example, if the quota was 100,000 and a candidate received 250,000 Primary votes, each of those votes would pass on to the second preference as ((250,000 - 100,000) / 250,000) = 0.6 votes.
Once the all of the Primary votes above the quota are determined and reallocated, then the candidate with the lowest number of votes is excluded, and their votes reallocated according to their second preference. Then the votes counts are checked again and if anyone is over quota they are elected, and their votes reallocated as partial votes.
This repeats until all of the seats are filled.
An Example: 1998 New South Wales Senate election.
Formal Votes: 3,755,725
Seats: 6
Quota: 536,533 (3,755,725 divided by 7)
A total of 69 Candidates stood, and for clarity the bottom 50 aren't included.
After the Primary votes were tallied, this is how they stood:
| Name | Party | Votes | % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve HUTCHINS | ALP | 1,446,231 | 38.5 | ELECTED 1 |
| Hon John Faulkner * | ALP | 2,914 | 00.1 | Group H |
| Michael Forshaw * | ALP | 864 | 00.0 | |
| Ursula Stephens | ALP | 2,551 | 00.1 | |
| David Oldfield | ON | 359,654 | 09.6 | Group K |
| Brian Burston | ON | 570 | 00.0 | |
| Bevan O'Regan | ON | 785 | 00.0 | |
| Bill HEFFERNAN * | Lib | 1,371,578 | 36.5 | ELECTED 2 |
| Dr John Tierney * | Lib | 1,441 | 00.0 | Group L |
| Sandy Macdonald * | NPA | 1,689 | 00.0 | |
| Concetta Fierravanti-Wells | Lib | 855 | 00.0 | |
| Aden Ridgeway | AD | 272,481 | 07.3 | Group M |
| Matthew Baird | AD | 457 | 00.0 | |
| Suzzanne Reddy | AD | 2,163 | 00.1 | |
| David Mendelssohn | AD | 809 | 00.0 | |
| John Sutton | Grn | 80,073 | 02.1 | Group U |
| Catherine Moore | Grn | 748 | 00.0 | |
| Lee Rhiannon | Grn | 249 | 00.0 | |
| Suzie Russell | Grn | 542 | 00.0 |
(Note: the * indicates they were an existing senator re-contesting their seat. It doesn't have any bearing on the calculations required.)
Steve Hutchins had the most votes, and had greater than the quota, and was elected into the first Senate seat. Bill Heffernan had the second most votes and was also above the quota so he was elected into the second seat. Both candidates had their votes reallocated as partial votes to the second preferred candidate. This resulted in the following:
| Name | Votes Distributed | Total After | % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUTCHINS | Elected | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 1 |
| FAULKNER * | 908,567 (99.9) | 911,481 | 24.3 | ELECTED 3 |
| Forshaw * | 196 (00.0) | 1,060 | 00.0 | |
| Stephens | 130 (00.0) | 2,681 | 00.1 | |
| Oldfield | 186 (00.0) | 359,840 | 09.6 | |
| Burston | 6 (00.0) | 576 | 00.0 | |
| O'Regan | 4 (00.0) | 789 | 00.0 | |
| HEFFERNAN * | Elected | 1,371,578 | 36.5 | ELECTED 2 |
| Tierney * | 13 (00.0) | 1,454 | 00.0 | |
| Macdonald * | 1 (00.0) | 1,690 | 00.0 | |
| Fierravanti-Wells | 1 (00.0) | 856 | 00.0 | |
| Ridgeway | 278 (00.0) | 272,579 | 07.3 | |
| Baird | 5 (00.0) | 462 | 00.0 | |
| Reddy | 3 (00.0) | 2,166 | 00.1 | |
| Mendelssohn | 4 (00.0) | 813 | 00.0 | |
| Sutton | 66 (00.0) | 80,139 | 02.1 | |
| Moore | 2 (00.0) | 750 | 00.0 | |
| Rhiannon | 1 (00.0) | 250 | 00.0 | |
| Russell | 0 | 542 | 00.0 |
Most of Hutchins preferences went to Faulkner resulting in more than the quota, and Falkner was elected for the third Senate seat. After Falkner's preferences were distributed, no one remaining had more than the quota. This resulted in the following equivalent results for those still in with a chance:
| Name | Votes | % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HUTCHINS | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 1 |
| FAULKNER * | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 3 |
| Forshaw * | 375,587 | 10.0 | |
| Oldfield | 360,263 | 09.6 | |
| HEFFERNAN * | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 2 |
| Tierney * | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 4 |
| Macdonald * | 300,313 | 08.0 | |
| Ridgeway | 273,109 | 07.3 | |
| Sutton | 80,186 | 02.1 |
At this stage, candidates at the bottom end get excluded and their votes reassigned. 50 exclusions later, the results look like this:
| Name | Votes | % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HUTCHINS | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 1 |
| FAULKNER * | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 3 |
| Forshaw * | 450,446 | 12.0 | |
| Oldfield | 402,154 | 10.7 | |
| HEFFERNAN * | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 2 |
| Tierney * | 536,533 | 14.3 | ELECTED 4 |
| Macdonald * | 357,572 | 09.5 | |
| Ridgeway | 286,157 | 07.6 | |
| Sutton | 112,602 | 03.0 |
Tierney had enough to exceed the quota (finally) and was elected into the fourth Senate seat.
Sutton was then eliminated. 80% of Sutton's preferences went to Ridgeway, giving Ridgeway more votes than McDonald. McDonald was then eliminated, and 93% of his preferences went to Ridgeway, thus giving him a quota and the fifth Senate seat. Ridgeway's surplus was then distributed, and 96% of his votes went to Forshaw, thus giving him a quota and the sixth seat. Oldfield was the last remaining unsuccessful candidate.
(Large thanks to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_electoral_system) when I stole this example from)
As you can see, Senate elections are very complicated when working out the maths, and it is for this reason that the latest a Senate election can be is five weeks before 1 July. This ensures that there is sufficient time to determine the results.
