How the House of Representatives Votes Are Counted

By voting at elections for the Firm of Representatives the people of each electoral division (also called an electorate or a constituency) select a person to represent them in the House. By selecting their representatives the voters, or electors, indirectly select the nation's government, because the government is formed from the political political party or brotherhood of parties (coalition) which has a bulk (or the support of a majority) of the Members of the House of Representatives.

When are elections held?

Nether Australia'due south Constitution each Firm of Representatives may terminal no more than than three years from the first meeting of the House afterward an ballot, but may be dissolved sooner. Full general elections are then held to elect all Members of the House of Representatives, according to the timetable beneath.

If a seat in the Firm becomes vacant between general elections, for case, if a Member resigns or dies, a by-election is held to elect a new Member to represent that electorate until the side by side general election.

Who can stand up for election?

Candidates for ballot must exist Australian citizens and be eligible to vote. Senators, Members of State Parliaments, public servants, including defence personnel, and officers of the Electoral Commission are non eligible to become Members of the House of Representatives and must resign their position if they wish to nominate for ballot to the House. Some public service bodies accept arrangements to allow unsuccessful candidates to rejoin the public service later the election. People who are citizens of, or hold allegiance to, a foreign country; who are undischarged bankrupts; or who have been convicted of sure offences are also not eligible to become Members.

Candidates must exist nominated by a political party or past at least 100 electors of the electorate to be contested. However, a sitting Member who was elected as an independent needs nomination by only one elector, if they wish to stand again for the same seat. On nomination candidates pay a deposit of $2,000. This is returned if the candidate is elected or receives at least iv per cent of the (beginning preference) votes cast in the electorate.

Who votes?

Australian citizens who are xviii years of age or older are required to enrol as voters unless they are not eligible because, for example, they are of 'an unsound mind' or serving a judgement of imprisonment of 3 years or more. Voting is compulsory for all people enrolled. People who do not vote may be fined.

Who conducts the election?

The Australian Balloter Commission, a statutory dominance headed by the Electoral Commissioner, is responsible for the assistants of all Commonwealth electoral matters including, for instance, the conduct of elections, the maintenance of up to date lists of electors (balloter rolls) and the cartoon of electorate boundaries. An election takes identify in response to a formal lodge (writ) from the Governor-Full general (or the Speaker in the instance of a by-election) requiring the Electoral Commissioner to behave an ballot. For a general ballot a single writ is issued for each state and territory.

AEC staff counting the votes on an election twenty-four hour period

Voting

The election newspaper for each electoral division lists candidates' names and shows the parties they stand for (if they do not correspond a party, candidates may request to be shown every bit an 'Contained'). Candidates are listed in a random order, adamant by drawing lots.

The system of voting used in elections for the Business firm of Representatives is preferential, that is, voters have to rank all candidates in order of preference—they may not only vote for one candidate. Voters are directed to mark their vote on the ballot paper past placing numbers in the squares opposite the names of the candidates so every bit to indicate their order of preference, for example, if in that location are three candidates, past writing the numbers one, ii and 3 in the appropriate squares. Ballot papers which are incorrectly filled out (informal) are non 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 exist successful a candidate must be supported past the majority (that is, more half) of voters. This system is considered fairer than a non-preferential (first-past-the-post) organisation under which the candidate with the about votes is elected, even though he or she may accept support from less than half the voters.

The result—declaration of the poll and return of the writs

The upshot of each election is announced (declared) equally shortly as possible after counting has been completed in the electoral division. Post-obit a general ballot, 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 forward them to the Clerk of the Firm of Representatives.

The validity of an ballot may be challenged by a petition addressed to the Courtroom of Disputed Returns (the High Court acting in a special capacity). This may occur if it is alleged that a candidate was not eligible to become a Member for i of the reasons listed before in this infosheet or if it is claimed that there has been some irregularity in the ballot process.

Disclosure of income and expenditure, public funding

All candidates are required to make returns to the Balloter Commission detailing whatever donations they accept received for electoral purposes and balloter expenditure they have incurred or authorised. Political parties also have to submit annual returns or copies of their audited accounts. Disclosure laws too apply to other people involved in the balloter procedure. This information is publicly bachelor on the Balloter Committee website.

Candidates who receive at least four per cent of the (beginning preference) vote are reimbursed for balloter expenses by a specified corporeality for each such vote they receive. Election funding is paid either to a registered political political party on behalf of each endorsed candidate or is paid direct to a candidate who is not endorsed past a registered political party. This amount (which was approximately $2.75 per vote for the election held on 18 May 2019) is indexed for inflation.

Balloter divisions

Australia is currently divided into 151 balloter divisions, each represented by one Member. Nether the Constitution each existing state is guaranteed at least five Members, only 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, balloter divisions differ greatly in area, ranging from 32 sq. km (Grayndler, NSW) to over 1.6 million sq. km (Durack, WA). At June 2019, there was an average of approximately 109,718 electors per electorate.

Electoral boundaries are reviewed regularly and, if necessary, adapted (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 last redistribution occurred on 31 August 2017, resulting in an increase in the number of electorates from 150 to 151 at the 2022 general ballot (with the Deed gaining the new seat). The number of electoral divisions in each of the states and territories is below:

New South Wales	47
Victoria	38
Queensland	30
Western Australia	16
Southward Australia	10
Tasmania	5
Australian Capital letter Territory	3
Northern Territory	2
Total	151

When is the next full general election?

The last possible appointment for the next election is within 68 days from the decease of the Firm. As the 46th Parliament first met on Tuesday 2 July 2019, it is due to elapse on Friday i July 2022. The next ballot for the Business firm of Representatives must therefore exist held by 3 September 2022, the last Saturday within the 68 mean solar day catamenia. Nevertheless, an election may exist held at whatever time before that date.

Equally House of Representatives and one-half-Senate elections are usually held simultaneously, the primeval date for such an election would be Saturday 7 Baronial 2021.

As the latest possible appointment for a half-Senate election is Saturday 21 May 2022, the latest possible engagement for a simultaneous (one-half-Senate and Business firm of Representatives) election is also Sat 21 May 2022.

For more information

House of Representatives Practice , 7th edn, Department of the House of Representatives, Canberra, 2018,
pp. 85–106.

Australian Electoral Committee website: www.aec.gov.au

Image courtesy of Arthur Mostead, AEC.

Timetable for general elections

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Source: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_8_-_Elections_for_the_House_of_Representatives