The House of Reps and Preferential Voting
Last module we discussed how Parliament is structured, providing an intro to the House of Reps and the Senate. This week, we’ll focus on how MPs (“Member of Parliament”) actually get elected into the House of Reps.
Quick primer on Australia's Parliamentary System
Australia’s parliamentary democracy system means that when we vote, we vote for a member of a political party who represents our electorate. As discussed last week, the party that wins the most electorates (also known as seats) forms government. But we don't actually vote for our Prime Minister. That's the party's job. So instead, the elected MP’s from each party vote for their leader, and that person, as leader of the party in Government, becomes Prime Minister.
For example, in 2019 only 59,895 people voted specifically for Scott Morrison. These were the voters in NSW's federal electorate of Cook, who gave Scott Morrison their first preference against Labor's Simon O'Brien.
Australia’s parliamentary system also explains why Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull all lost their Prime Ministership's without calling an election. In these situations, a "leadership spill" is called, and members of the party vote to elect a new leader. If they are in government, then the new leader becomes Prime Minister.
Voting in the House of Representatives
The House of Reps uses Preferential Voting. In this system, the voter’s task is to rank each candidate by preference, from 1 to 8 (assuming 8 candidates are standing for election).
A candidate must secure more than 50% of total first preference votes (an absolute majority) to be elected. After the first count, if no candidate has secured above the 50% threshold, then the candidate who scored the fewest first preferences is eliminated. Their preferences are then distributed amongst the remaining candidates.
For example, a voter gave Stephen Bennett their first preference and Geoffrey Mansell their second preference. If Stephen Bennett receives the lowest amount of first preference votes, he is eliminated. Stephen Bennett's preferences are then distributed amongst the remaining candidates. This would mean the voter's second preference is distributed to Geoffrey Mansell, accruing to him as an additional first preference vote in the next round of counting.
After this second count, if a candidate is still yet to hit the 50% threshold, the process repeats, and the least popular candidate from the remaining selection is eliminated. Again, their preferences are distributed to the remaining candidates. Once a candidate has secured over 50% of the vote, they are deemed the winner, and are elected to the House of Representatives as an MP.
A note on compulsory voting
In Australia, voting in Federal Elections is compulsory. Failure to vote is punishable by a $20 fine. This explains voter turnout of almost 92% (low by historical standard) in the 2019 election, compared to the record turnout in the 2020 United States Election of 66%.