When individuals are voting at the Victorian state election, they are voting for one person to represent the district in the Legislative Assembly and five people to represent their region in the Legislative Council.
Nancy Loomba is part of the migrant women empowerment group at Leadership Victoria.
With other ethnic women leaders, Nancy attended a special workshop with the Victorian Electoral Commission to understand and further explain the Victorian electoral system to migrant communities.
Ms Loomba explains that the Parliament of Victoria is divided into two houses
- Legislative Assembly which is also called lower House
- Legislative Council which is also called Upper House
Ms Loomba told SBS Hindi, “After the election, the party or coalition (a group of parties) with most seats in the Lower House forms the government. Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to serve a term of four years.”
She says, “You have to complete a ballot paper for the Legislative Assembly or Lower House by placing number ‘1’ in the box of your preferred candidate, and then number all the remaining boxes in the order of your preference.”
The Legislative Council or Upper House ballot paper features a thick horizontal line.
“If you choose to vote above the line, you must only place a 1 in the box above the party you want to support. Your ballot paper will be counted according to the preferences on the group's registered group voting ticket.” Nancy told SBS Hindi.
She also says, “If you choose to vote below the line, place number ‘1’ in the box against your most preferred candidate and continue numbering 2,3,4,5 and so on in order of your choice. You are only required to number a total of five preferences (i.e. 2, 3, 4 and 5), but can number more.”
For more information, visit https://www.vec.vic.gov.au
