Elections for the House of Representatives
House
of Representatives Infosheet No. 8 Revised October 1998 Page menu
: When are elections held? | Who can stand for election?
| Who votes? | Who conducts the election? |
Voting | Counting the votes | The
result, declaration of the poll and return of the writs | Disclosure
of income and expenditure, public funding | Electoral divisions
| When is the next general election? | Suggestions
for further reading At elections for the House of Representatives the
people of each electoral division (also called an electorate or a constituency)
choose a person to represent them in the House. In choosing their representatives
the voters, or electors, indirectly choose the nation's government, because the
government is formed from the political party or alliance of parties (coalition)
which has a majority of the Members of the House of Representatives. When
are elections held?Under Australia's Constitution each
House of Representatives may last no more than three years from the first meeting
of the House after an election, but may be dissolved sooner. General elections
are then held to elect all Members of the House of Representatives. If a seat
in the House becomes vacant between general elections, for example, if a Member
resigns or dies, a by-election is held to elect a new Member
to represent that electorate until the next general election. 
Who
can stand for election?Candidates for election must be
Australian citizens and be eligible to vote. The following are not eligible to
become Members of the House of Representatives: Senators; Members of State Parliaments;
public servants; officers of the Electoral Commission; citizens of, or persons
holding allegiance to, a foreign power; undischarged bankrupts or persons convicted
of certain offences. Candidates must be nominated by at least six electors of
the electorate to be contested or by a political party. On nomination candidates
pay a deposit of $350. This is returned if the candidate receives at least four
per cent of the (first preference) votes cast in the electorate.
Who
votes?Australian citizens who are 18 years of age or older
are eligible to enrol as voters. There are some exceptions, for example, persons
of 'an unsound mind' or those serving sentences for serious crimes. All persons
eligible to enrol must do so and voting is compulsory for all persons enrolled.
Those who do not vote may be fined.
Who
conducts the election?The Australian Electoral Commission,
a statutory authority headed by the Electoral Commissioner, is responsible for
the administration of all Commonwealth electoral matters including, for example,
the conduct of elections, the maintenance of up-to-date lists of electors (electoral
rolls) and the redistribution of electorates. An election takes place in response
to a writ (formal order) from the Governor-General (or the Speaker in the case
of a by-election) commanding the Electoral Commissioner to conduct an election.
For a general election a separate writ is issued for each State and Territory.
VotingThe
ballot paper for each electoral division lists candidates' names and shows the
parties they represent (if they represent no party, candidates are listed as 'independent').
Candidates are listed in a random order, determined by drawing lots. The system
of voting used in elections for the House of Representatives is preferential,
that is, voters have to rank all candidates in order of preference: they may not
just vote for one candidate. Voters are directed to mark their vote on the ballot
paper by placing numbers in the squares opposite the names of the candidates so
as to indicate their order of preference, for example, if there are three candidates,
by writing the numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the appropriate squares. Ballot papers which
are incorrectly filled out (informal) are not valid and are not included in the
count. Preferential voting is designed to produce the election of the candidate
who is most representative of the wishes of an electorate. To be successful a
candidate must be supported by the majority (that is, more than half) of voters.
This system is considered fairer than a non-preferential (first-past-the-post)
system under which the candidate with the most votes is elected, even though he
or she may have support from only a minority of voters.
Counting
the votesIn the first stage of the count the first preference
votes are counted. If no candidate then has a majority, the candidates with the
fewest votes are progressively eliminated and the votes received by them distributed
(that is, allotted to other candidates according to the preferences of the voters)
until only two candidates remain, for example: First preference votes counted
candidate A B C votes 45 30 25 C's second preferences distributed,
two possibilities are shown candidate A B A B
1st preference votes
45 30 45 30
2nd preference votes 10 15 or 4 21
total votes 55 45 49
51
A elected B elected In this example the candidate with the fewest
votes (C) is excluded and his or her votes shared between candidates A and B according
to whether the voters had ranked A or B as their second choice. Note that this
could result in either A or B being elected, depending on the distribution of
preferences.
The
result, declaration of the poll and return of the writsThe
result of each election is announced (declared) as soon as possible after counting
has been completed in the division. Following a general election, when the results
for all divisions have been declared the Electoral Commissioner certifies on each
writ the name of the successful candidate for each division and returns the writs
to the Governor-General, who in turn forwards them to the Clerk of the House of
Representatives. The validity of an election may be challenged by a petition
addressed to the Court of Disputed Returns (the High Court acting in a special
capacity).
Disclosure
of income and expenditure, public fundingAll candidates
are required to make returns to the Electoral Commission detailing any donations
they have received for electoral purposes and electoral expenditure they have
incurred or authorised. Political parties also have to submit annual returns or
copies of their audited accounts. Disclosure laws also apply to other people involved
in the electoral process. This information is publicly available. Candidates
who receive at least 4% of the (first preference) vote are reimbursed for electoral
expenses by a specified amount for each such vote they receive. Election funding
is paid either to a registered political party on behalf of each endorsed candidate
or is paid direct to a candidate who is not endorsed by a registered party. This
amount (which was 162.210 cents for the election held on 3 October 1998) is indexed
for inflation.
Electoral
divisionsAustralia is currently (39th Parliament) divided
into 148 electoral divisions, each represented by one Member. Under the Constitution
each original State is guaranteed at least five Members, but all States except
Tasmania now have more, the numbers depending on their population. States may
gain or lose Members as a consequence of population movements. Because of Australia's
uneven distribution of population, electoral divisions differ greatly in area,
ranging from 26 sq. km. (Wentworth, NSW) to over 2.2 million sq. km. (Kalgoorlie,
WA). At the election in October 1998, there was an average of approximately 81,000
electors per electorate. Electoral boundaries are reviewed regularly and, if
necessary, adjusted (redistributed) to reflect population changes. The aim of
redistribution is to ensure that electoral divisions within each State or Territory
contain approximately an equal number of electors. The representation of the
States and Territories :
| New South Wales | 50 | South Australia | 12 |
| Victoria | 37 | Tasmania | 5 | | Queensland | 27 | Australian
Capital Territory | 2 | | Western Australia | 14 | Northern
Territory | 1 |
When
is the next general election?With the first meeting of
the 39th Parliament on 10 November 1998, the latest date for the next election
is Saturday, 12 January 2002. Timetable for general elections
Stage | Limitation | Constitutional
or statutory provision | | Dissolution | Not
later than 3 years from the first meeting of the House | Constitution,
ss. 5, 28 | Issue of writs
(at 6 p.m.) | Within
10 days of dissolution | Constitution s. 32; Commonwealth Electoral
Act ss. 151, 152 | | Close of electoral rolls (at
8 p.m.) | 7 days after date of writ | Commonwealth
Electoral Act s. 155 | | Nominations close (at 12
noon) | Not less than 10 days nor more than 27 days after date
of writ | Commonwealth Electoral Act s. 156 |
Date of polling
(a Saturday) | Not less
than 23 days nor more than 31 days from date of nomination | Commonwealth
Electoral Act ss. 157, 158 | | Return of writs | Not
more than 100 days after issue | Commonwealth Electoral Act
s. 159 | | Meeting of new Parliament | Not
later than 30 days after the day appointed for return of writs | Constitution
s. 5 |
Suggestions for further readingHouse
of Representatives Practice, 3rd edn. A.G.P.S., Canberra, 1997. pp 107–128. Australian
Electoral Commission. Commonwealth Electoral Procedures. AGPS, Canberra,
1992.
Last updated: October 1998
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