With a lot of the election noise primarily concerning the Liberal and Labor parties, it’s easy to feel like there’s only two parties to choose from. But when you go to vote tomorrow, there will be up to 35 different parties listed on your form. With that many options, there’s a good chance one of them represents your views better than either team red or team blue.

So this pre-election eve, let's talk about how the Australian ballot works, how our ranking is used, and why it’s so important to vote for the candidates that most closely represent you.
Australia’s elections use a preferential voting system called the ‘single transferable vote’, where you rank your preferences by number. This is different to countries like the US and UK, where voters pick only one candidate, known as ‘first past the post’. It seems like a small difference, but the effect is huge. Allow me to explain…

Let’s say it’s a three-way, first-past-the-post race between parties A, B, and C. You really like Party A, kind of like Party B, and really don’t like Party C. But you also know Party A isn’t likely to win, so you might want to vote Party B instead – even though they're not your favourite, they have the best chance of defeating Party C. This kind of strategic voting is called ‘the spoiler effect’, and it’s the reason why countries that use this voting style, like the US, have naturally developed a two-party system.

But in Australia, things work differently. By ranking your preferences, your vote doesn’t disappear if Party A gets the fewest votes – instead, it flows onto your second preference, Party B. This process is repeated until one party has a majority. That way, your vote isn’t wasted – no spoiler effect here.

And even if your first preference doesn’t win, there are other benefits to voting with the candidate that best represents you. Preferencing shows the winning party which issues are important to you, which will guide their policy and decision making if they hope to win your vote in the future. Plus, if your candidate receives more than 4% of the primary (‘1’) vote, they’ll receive funding towards their next campaign.

All the best at the polls tomorrow – let’s make our voices heard! #VoteGlobalHealth

Want to find out which candidates most closely share your views? ABC's Vote Compass is a fantastic online questionnaire, and takes just a few minutes: https://votecompass.abc.net.au/

By Georgia Behrens & Daniel Bil
Vice-Chair External / Brand/IT Officer, AMSA Global Health 2019
[email protected] / [email protected]