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SUBMISSION 62.1 Informal Voting at Australian Elections

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SUBMISSION 62.1 Informal Voting at Australian Elections Informal Voting by Jurisdiction The following pages bring together data on informal voting at Australian Federal, State and Tenitory elections, as well as any available research on categories ofinformal voting. The Chambers ofthe various Parliaments arc elected using two broad categories ofelectoral system, election by preferential voting in single member electorates, and the use of preferential voting in multi~member electorates. These can then further be categorised by how many preferences are required by a fonnal vote. The following two table categorise the various electoral systems. Single Member Electoral Systems Compulsory preferential voting, no savings provisions Commonwealth House ofRepresentatives Victorian Legislative Assembly Victorian Legislative Council (until 2002) Western Australia Legislative Assembly Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Compulsory preferential voting, no savings provisions South Australia House of Assembly Limited preferential voting Tasmanian Legislative Council (3 preferences minimum) Optional preferential voting New South Wales Legislative Assembly Queensland Legislative Assembly Multi-member Electoral Systems Group Ticket Voting, Compulsory below line preferences Commonwealth Senate South Australian Legislative Council Western Australia Legislative Council Group Ticket Voting, Limited below line preferences Victorian Legislative Council (since 2006) (5 preferences minimum) Optional above line voting, limited preferences below line New South Wales Legislative Council (15 preferences minimum) . Hare-Clark, limited preferences Tasmanian House ofAssembly (As many preferences as vacancies, currently 5) Hare-Clark, optional preferential voting A.c.T. Legislative Assembly (ballot paper suggests as many preferences as vacancies) 2007 JSCEM - Appearance by Antony Green Informal Voting at Australian Elections Federal Elections Informal Voting at Federal Elections 1990-2007 Candidates % Informal Vote by Number of Candidates per electorate 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2 2.44 3.10 3 3.15 2.87 2.44 4 2.73 2.55 3.20 2.79 3.36 4.35 4.25 5 3.00 2.68 3.15 3.57 4.38 4.39 4.27 6 3.36 3.03 3.00 3.38 4.49 4.70 3.51 7 3.75 3.25 3.12 3.85 4.56 4.89 3.81 8 3.72 3.06 3.55 3.69 5.33 5.58 3.91 9 4.35 3.23 3.29 4.12 6.04 5.70 4.53 10 7.00 3.43 3.98 4.10 6.09 5.83 5.00 II 3.50 4.39 5.35 6.83 4.87 12 4.77 5.91 7.41 13 5.67 6.22 14 11.83 Overall Infonnality House 3.19 2.98 3.20 3.77 4.82 5.18 3.95 Senate 3.4 2.55 3.50 3.24 3.89 3.75 Electorates 148 146 148 147 150 150 150 Candidates per scat 5.3 6.4 6.1 7.5 6.9 7.3 7.0 Source: Australian Electoral Commission published rcsull<;, calculations by author. Note: Excludes Dickson supplementary election in 1993 and Newcastle supplementary election in 1998. House of Representatives Informal Vote Research: National Informal Category 1984 1987 1996 2001 2004 Number' I' only n.a. n.a. n.a. 33.72 32.83 Non Sequential n.a. n.a. n.a. 17.31 15.35 Langer Style n.a. n.a. n.a. 2.86 n.a. Incomplete numbering n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 4.39 Total numbering errors 44.6 48.0 41.7 53.89 52.57 Blanks 16.8 15.9 23.0 21.22 21.15 Marks/Writing 7.5 10.2 10.1 6.39 14.27 Ticks and Crosses 30.7 25.3 23.3 12.92 9.34 Source: 2001 and 2004 figures from "Analysis of Informal Voting During the 2004 House of . Representatives Election, Australian Electoral C01!1lTlission Research Report Number 7." Earlier years taken from relevant AEC informal voting research reports. 2007 JSCEM - Appearance by Antony Greell 2 Informal Voting at Australian Elections AEC By-election Informal Voting Research No. of Percent Writing! Ticks! Defective Electorate/election Cands. Informal Blank Scribble Cross Numbering Adelaide 1987 Election 6 7.6 21.0 14.1 25.9 45.7 1988 By-election 9 3.9 18.3 31.5 32.5 17.5 Oxley 1987 Election 4 3.2 13.4 10.2 29.0 48.5 1988 By-election 5 2.6 12.5 32.7 41.3 13.4 Wills 1990 ElectioD 8 6.4 0.3. n.a. D.a. n.a. 1992 By-election 22 6.4 14.1 18.9 34.1 32.8 Werriwa 2001 Election 8 8.5 17.6 19.0 14.3 49.0 2004 Election 7 8.0 20.9 11.1 14.6 68.0 2005 By-election 16 13.2 18.4 25.6 4.8 45.3 Sources: AEC Informal Vote Research 1987, AEC 1994 Electoral Pocket Book, Research report No.8, Analysis ofInformal Voting at Werriwa By-election NOTES • At both the Adelaide and Oxley by-elections, there was a decline in thc informal vote and this appears to be entirely as a result of the decline in 'I' only voting. This supports the view that it is the Senate ballot paper that encourages the use of 'I' only voting at House of Representatives elections. • Infonnal voting for Wills at the 1990 election is not available. However, despite there being 22 candidates, the infotmal voting did not increase, and the rate of infonnal votes with defective numbering was still lower than at other elections. • The data for Werriwa has been accumulated by the author to match the categories used in previous research. The informal vote increased at the by-election, but it should be noted that the Liberal Party did not nominate a candidate. • While the rate of Defective Numbering ballots fell to 45.3%, three~warters of these were ballots classified by the AEC as 'Non-sequential'. • In Werriwa, the proportion of 'I' only ballot papers fell from 36.9% to 9.1 %, in raw numbers from 2482 to 927. • The nwnbcr ofvotes marked with ticks and crosses fell from 14.6% to 4.8%, overall from 983 to 489 ballots. • The evidence in the above table suggests that the rate of informal voting is lower at by­ elections because there is no Senate ballot paper to confuse voters, the the absence of a major party candidate may increase the level of informal voting. 2007 JSCEM - Appearance by Antony Green 3 Informal Voling at Australian Elections NEW SOUTH WALES Informal Voting at Federal Elections in NSW 1990-2007 Candidates %.Informal Vote by Number of Candidates per electorate 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2 2.4 3 2.7 2.9 4 2.5 2.6 3.9 4.2 4.7 5.9 5 2.8 2.7 3.4 4.6 3.5 5.5 4.8 6 3.2 3.6 3.4 3.0 4.2 5.0 4.9 7 3.9 3.3 3.4 4.3 4.7 5.6 4.7 8 2.8 3.2 3.2 3.9 6.3 6.7 4.7 9 3.4 4.4 4.1 7.0 6.7 5.8 10 7.0 3.7 5.0 4.6 6.2 6.3 5.\ 1\ 4.4 4.4 5.3 6.8 4.9 12 6.0 7.4 \3 5.7 6.2 14 11.8 Overall Informality House 3.\ 3.\ 3.6 4.0 5.4 6.\ 5.0 Senate 4.2 2.7 3.8 3.3 3.5 3.5 Electorates 5\ 50 50 50 50 50 49 Candidates per seat 5.6 6.2 6.4 7.8 7.9 7.6 7.0 Source: Australian Electoral Conunission published results, calculations by author. Informal Voting at State Elections 1984-2007 Candidates % Informal Vote by Number of Candidates per electorate 1984 1988 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2 2.75 3.2\ \8.66 7.58 3 2.20 2.97 9.80 5.62 1.98 2.42 4 2.20 3.40 9.25 5.23 1.38 2.11 2.7\ 5 2.70 3.48 7.05 5.\2 2.17 2.28 2.62 6 3.65 5.\9 9.6\ 4.36 2.26 2.32 2.83 7 3.73 10.50 3.99 2.68 2.58 2.92 8 3.80 5.62 4.06 2.33 2.6\ 3.28 9 3.22 2.57 3.33 2.58 10 2.96 3.46 11 3.22 3.47 \2 3.02 13 2.99 Overall Informality Legislative Assembly 2.4\ 3.28 9.32 5.15 2.51 2.62 2.77 Legislative Council 6.66 8.08 5.67 6.11 7.17 5.34 6.1\ Electorates 99 109 99 99 93 93 93 Candidates per seat 3.0 3.4 4.4 4.6 7.9 7.\ 5.8 2007 JSCFM - Appearance by Antony Greer 4 Informal Voting at Australian Elections House of Representatives Informal Vote Researcb: New South Wales Informal Category 1984 1987 1996 2001 2004 Number 'I' only o.a. o.a. o.a. 32.47 35.65 Noo Sequential n.a. n.a. o.a. 22.52 15.22 Langer Style n.a. n.a. o.a. 2.37 n.a. Incomplete numbering n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 5.23 Total numbering errors 36.0 42.4 47.2 57.36 56.10 Blanks 18.3 16.0 22.0 20.38 21.18 Marks/Writing 8.2 9.2 7.9 5.49 9.62 Ticks and Crosses 37.5 31.5 21.4 12.57 10.71 Source: 200 I and 2004 figures from"Analysis ofInformal Voting During the 2004 House of Representatives Election, Australian Electoral Commission Research Report Number 7." Earlier years taken from relevant AEC informal voting research reports.
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