Election 2019: How does Australia's preferential voting system work?

Under Australia's preferential voting system, voters can rank the candidates for both Houses of Parliament from most-preferred to least-preferred. Counting the ballots is a process of elimination based on the preferences until one candidate secures an absolute majority - which can trigger complex "preference deals" between parties and candidates in the lead-up to voting day.

Vote counting Source: AEC

On federal election day, voters are given two ballot papers: one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate.

Evan Ekin-Smyth, from the Australian Electoral Commission, says a voter needs to put the number 1 next to their first choice candidate and then number every other box on the green House of Representatives ballot paper.

The counting of first preference votes takes place first and if no one candidate secures an absolute majority - 50 per cent plus 1 of the primary votes - the candidate with the least number of primary votes is eliminated from the count.

The second preference votes for the eliminated candidate are then redistributed among the remaining candidates, starting with the number two preference from the original ballot.

This process of elimination based on the preferences continues until one candidate secures an absolute majority.

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