Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories
Encyclopedia
For elections to the Australian Parliament, see the Australian electoral system
Australian electoral system
The Australian electoral system has evolved over nearly 150 years of continuous democratic government, and has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, preferential voting and the use of proportional voting to elect the upper house, the Australian Senate.- Compulsory voting...

.


The legislatures of the Australian states and territories all follow the Westminster model described in the Australian electoral system
Australian electoral system
The Australian electoral system has evolved over nearly 150 years of continuous democratic government, and has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, preferential voting and the use of proportional voting to elect the upper house, the Australian Senate.- Compulsory voting...

. When the Australian colonies were granted responsible government in the nineteenth century, their constitutions provided for legislative assemblies (lower houses) elected by the people from single-member constituencies, with all adult males able to vote. This was considerably more democratic than the system which existed in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 at that time. To balance this democratic element, however, the legislative councils which had existed before responsible government were retained as upper houses, whose members were either nominated by the Governor or elected on a restricted franchise. This ensured that the upper houses were dominated by representatives of the wealthy. In the twentieth century, the Legislative Council of Queensland was abolished, while direct elections on a broad franchise were eventually introduced for all of the remainder.

Legislative Assembly

The New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 has 93 members elected for four-year terms using optional preferential voting
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...

, (also known as instant run-off voting). The voting system is the same as for the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 except that New South Wales has optional preferential voting. This means that while voters may number every candidate if they wish, their vote is still formal if they choose not to. They may vote for one candidate only, or for as many candidates as they choose, provided that they number them in correct sequence.

Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 has 42 members who serve eight year terms, one-half of the body being elected every four years. The Council uses the Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

 method, a form of preferential voting
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...

 for use with proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

. The NSW constitution requires voters to express preferences for at least 15 candidates on the ballot - either through numbering individual candidates or at least one group voting ticket
Group voting ticket
Group voting tickets are a way to simplify preferential voting, usually in an election held under the single transferable vote or the alternative vote system....

 - however preferences after this point are optional.

The Council has had three different methods of election (or appointment) in its history. From 1855 to 1933 its members were appointed by the Governor, and the Council had no fixed size. In the early part of this period the Governor exercised a personal discretion in appointing members, but once the convention became established that the Governor acted only on the advice of the Premier, this meant that the Council was in effect appointed by the Premier.

By the 1920s this was felt to be undemocratic and undesirable, so in 1933 the method of choosing members of the Council was changed by referendum. From 1933 to 1978, the Council consisted of 60 members, chosen for 12-year terms by single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

 in a secret ballot of both Houses of the Parliament (all MLAs and the 45 non-retiring MLCs). One-quarter of the MLCs (15 of 60) came up for re-election every three years. This meant in practice that the party composition of the Council reflected that of the Assembly, with a lag of some years.

In 1978 Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...

's Labor government reformed the Council, again by referendum. Since that time the Council has been elected by the people by proportional representation, with the whole state voting as one electorate. Voting was preferential as well as proportional. The size of the Council was reduced to 45 members, serving nine-year terms, with one third of the members coming up for election every three years.

When the term of the Legislative Assembly was extended from three years to four in 1984, terms were consequently extended to twelve years. At another referendum in 1991, the membership of the Council was reduced again to its current size, and the current system of eight-year terms, with elections every four years, was introduced.

Nomination

Nomination as a candidate requires:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • a nomination form signed by the candidate and either 15 persons enrolled in the electoral district to be contested or by the Registered Officer of a political party; and
  • a deposit of $250 (Legislative Assembly) or $500 (Legislative Council) nb: the deposit is returned if the candidate gains at least 4% of the first preference vote; and
  • the candidate must be enrolled to vote in NSW, although not necessarily as a resident of the electorate for which they are nominating.

Victoria

Elections are held on the last Saturday in November every 4th year. The next election will be held on Saturday, 29 November 2014.

Prior to the 2006 election, Victorian parliamentary elections could be held any time at the discretion of the government in the last year of their four year term of office. This meant that, in practice, the average period between elections was somewhat less than the maximum four years.

Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 (lower house) has 88 members elected from single-member constituencies (districts) under the Alternative Vote system of preferential voting. The voting system is the 'full preferential' system used for the Federal House of Representatives.

Legislative Council

The Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...

 (upper house) has 40 members elected from eight regions. Five are urban (Eastern Metropolitan Region, Northern Metropolitan Region, South Eastern Metropolitan Region, Southern Metropolitan Region, and Western Metropolitan Region) and three are non-urban (Eastern Victoria Region, Northern Victoria Region and Western Victoria Region). A proportional voting system is used, with each member requiring a quota of the vote to be elected.

Historically, the Council had 44 members from 22 constituencies known as provinces, each elected for two terms at alternating elections. This was changed by the Bracks government
Steve Bracks
Stephen Philip Bracks AC is a former Australian politician and the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Australian Labor Party, and was party leader and Premier from 1999 to 2007....

 in 2003, and the current system was first used at the 2006 election.

Nomination

Nomination as a candidate requires:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • A nomination form signed by the candidate and either by six electors or the Registered Officer of a political party; and
  • a deposit of $350 (Assembly) or $700 (Council). nb: The deposit is returned if the candidate gains at least 4% of the first preference vote; and
  • the candidate must be enrolled to vote in Victoria, although not necessarily as a resident of the electorate for which they are nominating.

Queensland

The Queensland Legislative Assembly
Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

 has 89 members, elected for three-year terms from single-member constituencies. Like New South Wales, Queensland uses the optional preferential form of the Alternative Vote. The Queensland Legislative Council, which consisted of members nominated by the Governor, was abolished by a Labor government in 1922.

Queensland has used the Alternative Vote since 1962. It used the 'first past the post
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...

' (plurality) system 1860 to 1892. From then until 1942 an unusual form of preferential voting called the 'contingent vote
Contingent vote
The contingent vote is an electoral system used to elect a single winner, in which the voter ranks the candidates in order of preference. In an election, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of first preference votes, then all but the two leading candidates are eliminated and there is a...

' was used. In 1942 the plurality system was reintroduced until it was replaced in 1962 by the 'full preferential' form of the Alternative Vote. In 1992 this was changed to the optional preferential system currently used.

Nomination

Nomination as a candidate requires of the following:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • Nomination by six electors
  • Nomination by the Registered Officer of a political party (registration of a party requires 500 members).
  • A deposit of $250. The deposit is returned if the candidate gains 4% of first preference vote.

Western Australia

The Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

 has 59 members, elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies under the Alternative Vote form of preferential voting. The voting system is the full preferential system used for the House of Representatives.

From 1986 to 2009, the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

 had 34 members elected for four-year terms from six multi-member constituencies known as regions, by STV proportional representation. Four regions elect five members while two regions elect seven members. As in the Assembly, the regions are deliberately malapportioned in favour of country areas. Now, since the Legislative Council, elected
Western Australian state election, 2008
A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...

 on 6 September 2008 and commencing office on 22 May 2009, each region is represented by six MLCs, making a total Council of 36.

A recount method is used to fill mid-term vacancies in the Legislative Council. All ballots from the original election are recounted, with preferences for the vacating member ignored. If a candidate not participating in the recount would be elected, the count is restarted and their preferences are also ignored, until a participating candidate is elected. This is slightly different to the "Countback" method used to fill vacancies in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. However, like the Tasmanian system, legislation provides for the ability to call a by-election if the party the vacating member stood for at the original election does not have any qualifying candidates - for instance, if all of their candidates at the original election were elected.

Nomination

Nomination as a candidate requires:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • Nomination by self or Registered Officer of a political party (registration of a party requires 500 members).
  • A deposit of $250. The deposit is returned if the candidate gains 5% of first preference votes, or if a group gains 10% of the first preference votes.

South Australia

The 47-member South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

 is elected under the preferential
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...

 Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

 (IRV) system. If on the count of primary or first preference votes (votes marked with the number '1'), no candidate achieves more than 50% of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded and their votes distributed according to the next available preferences, their 2nd or third choice candidate. This process of exclusion continues until one candidate achieves 50% of the vote.

The 22-member South Australian Legislative Council
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...

 is elected under the preferential
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...

 Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

 (STV) system through a means of Group voting ticket
Group voting ticket
Group voting tickets are a way to simplify preferential voting, usually in an election held under the single transferable vote or the alternative vote system....

s. Voters can choose to vote for a ticket by placing the number '1' in one of the ticket boxes "above the line" or can vote for individual candidates by numbering all the boxes "below the line" (54 in the 2006 election). In above the line voting, ticket votes are distributed according to the party or group voting ticket registered before the election with the election management body
Election management body
An election management body or EMB is the authority in a nation charged with administering the electoral process. EMBs can be independent, mixed, judicial or governmental. The EMB may also be responsible for electoral boundary delimitation...

. As most ballot papers are above the line, this form of voting often leads to pre-election trading between parties on how each party will allocate later preferences to other parties and candidates.

The independent State Electoral Office
State Electoral Office
The Electoral Commission of South Australia in South Australia, a state of Australia, is an independent office which conducts parliamentary state elections every 4 years and is also responsible for the compulsory re-drawing of South Australian House of Assembly electoral districts before each...

, which conducts elections, is responsible for a mandatory redistribution
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...

 of House of Assembly boundaries before each election to ensure one vote one value
One vote one value
In Australia, one vote one value is a legislative principle of democracy whereby each electorate has the same population within a specified percentage of variance. In the case of the Commonwealth, the maximum variance for the House of Representatives is 10% above or below the mean...

.

Like all other states and territories voting in South Australia is compulsory, however unlike other states initial enrolment is not compulsory so a voter could theoretically not be compelled to vote if they chose never to enrol.

Turnout rates are above 90%. Informal voting, which occurs when a voting slip is not valid, is at a rate of under 5%. Voting slips are informal when they are not filled out correctly, such examples are not numbering subsequent numbers, not filling out all the candidate boxes with numbers (except the last candidate), or in some other way that is verified by the State Electoral Office as illegible. South Australian elections have some features that are unique to the rest of Australia.

Parliaments have fixed four-year terms. The Electoral Act stipulates that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 25 days or a maximum of 55 days.

Nomination

Nomination as a candidate requires:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • Nomination by two electors or Registered Officer of a political party (registration of a party requires 150 members).
  • A deposit of a "prescribed amount".

Tasmania

The Tasmanian House of Assembly
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...

 has 25 members, elected for four-year terms from five multi-member constituencies, each electing five members by STV proportional representation. Tasmania is the only state to use proportional representation to elect its lower house. Tasmania uses a form of STV known as the 'Hare-Clark system', which was introduced in 1909. Casual vacancies are filled by the 'countback' method, which involves recounting the original ballot papers to elect one of the candidates who stood but failed to be elected in the last election.

The Tasmanian Legislative Council
Tasmanian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart...

 is the upper house of the Tasmanian parliament. It has 15 Members, each representing one of 15 electoral divisions. Elections are conducted on a 6 year periodic cycle. Elections for 3 members are held in May one year, with elections for 2 members held in May the following year and so on. Legislative Council elections use same full preferential voting used for the Australian Federal House of Representatives. Elections are held on the first Saturday in May each year.

Until recently Tasmania required voters to be residents of the state for at least six months before they were eligible to enrol and vote. This is no longer the case, bringing Tasmania into line with other states and the federal government.

Nomination

Nomination for either house requires:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • a nomination form signed by the candidate and either 10 electors or the Registered Officer of a political party; and
  • a deposit of $400. The deposit is returned if the candidate gains at least 20% of a quota at time of exclusion; and
  • the candidate must be enrolled to vote in Tasmania, although not necessarily as a resident of the electorate for which they are nominating.

Australian Capital Territory

The Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory has 17 members, elected for four-year terms from three multi-member constituencies by STV proportional representation. Two of the constituencies elect five members while the third elects seven. The Territory has never had an upper house. It uses the same 'Hare-Clark' system of STV used in Tasmania, with vacancies filled by countback. Nomination as a candidate requires the following:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • Nomination by 20 electors
  • Nomination by the Registered Officer of a political party (registration of a party requires 100 members).
  • A deposit of $250. The deposit is returned if the candidate or group gains 20% of first preference vote.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral parliament of the Northern Territory in Australia. It sits in Parliament House, located on State Square, close to the centre of the city of Darwin.-History:...

 has 25 members, elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies under the same full preferential form of the Alternative Vote used for the House of Representatives. The Territory has never had an upper house. Nomination as a candidate requires one of the following:
  • Must be over 18 years of age
  • Nomination by six electors; or
  • Nomination by the Registered Officer of a political party (registration of a party requires 200 members).
  • Deposit of $200. The deposit is returned if the candidate gains 20% of first preference vote.

Lower houses

Body elected Unicameral System Term Preferences
ACT Legislative Assembly
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory...

Yes STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

4 years Optional
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

No AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

4 years Optional
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral parliament of the Northern Territory in Australia. It sits in Parliament House, located on State Square, close to the centre of the city of Darwin.-History:...

Yes AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

4 years Full
Queensland Legislative Assembly
Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

Yes AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

3 years Optional
South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

No AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

4 years Full
Tasmanian House of Assembly
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...

No STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

4 years Optional
Victorian Legislative Assembly
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

No AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

4 years Full
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

No AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

4 years Full

Upper houses

Body elected System Term Frequency Seats Seats/district Group tickets Vacancies Surplus method
New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

8 years 4 year 42 21 Yes Appointment Random
South Australian Legislative Council
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...

STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

8 years 4 years 22 11 Yes Appointment Gregory (inclusive)
Tasmanian Legislative Council
Tasmanian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart...

AV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

6 years Annual 15 1 No By-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

n/a
Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...

STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

4 years 4 years 40 5 Yes Appointment Gregory (weighted inclusive)
Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

4 years 4 years 36 6 Yes Recount Gregory (weighted inclusive)

See also

  • Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
    Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
    The Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...

  • History and use of the Alternative Vote
    History and use of instant-runoff voting
    Instant-runoff voting, more commonly known outside the USA as the alternative vote or preferential voting, was devised around 1870 by the US architect W. R. Ware. Today it is in use at a national level to elect the Australian House of Representatives, the Fijian House of Representatives, the...

  • History and use of the Single Transferable Vote
    History and use of the Single Transferable Vote
    The history and usage of the Single Transferable Vote voting system has been a series of relatively modest periods of usage and disusage throughout the world, however today it is seeing increasing popularity and proposed implementation as a method of electoral reform...

  • List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
  • Victorian Electoral Commission
    Victorian Electoral Commission
    The Victorian Electoral Commission , or VEC, is the government agency responsible for the running of state, municipal and various non-government elections in Victoria.-An Independent Agency:...


External links

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