Hi Australia.

I’m planning on voting as is my duty and my privilege at the upcoming election.

I’m going to preface by saying that I don’t want my votes to go to the Dark Lord or the Liberal Party or the liars in the Labour Party. They are both completely corrupt and I’m adamant that they need to feel some pain.

So then I want to look at the independents and consider what they do and what they don’t do, and will they be truly representative, or are they just there scrambling for votes to get some money and power? Who can say?

So what I’d like to do to make sure the Liberals and Labour don’t get my vote, is find some kind of flowchart, that shows if I vote for an independent or a smaller party, where does that preference go to, so that I don’t feed the party that I don’t want to get my vote in the end.

Is there any resource out there that can show me where the preferences get fed to, so I can make an informed choice.

I feel like this should be a legal obligation, that we are all given this kind of information in a flowchart. But I can’t find it. Can anybody help?

Thank you so much.

  • tauEnglish
    5•3 days ago

    When it comes to preferences they go to the parties/candidates in the order that you number them. Others can suggest where you send your preferences (how to vote cards being the typical method) but ultimately it’s up to you.

    For the house of reps if a third party doesn’t win the seat you will ultimately end up voting for Labour or Liberals, because you have to number all the boxes. You’ll have to decide which you like more (or least) and number accordingly. In the senate you can potentially exhaust your vote before reaching the majors (assuming you reach the minimum numbering before getting to them) but unless you truly believe both majors are the same I’d advise including them.

    If you vote above the line in the senate your preferences follow party lines as you have numbered them (i.e. preferences will count towards the candidates for the first party you number, then the second and so forth). You still control what parties you’re voting for and what order.