How does Australia's preferential voting system work?

The candidate, who gets more than half of the votes, wins that electorate. But if no candidate gets more than 50 per cent at the first count, the person with the least votes is eliminated, and the people who voted for them have their second preferences counted. This continues until one of the candidates has more than 50 per cent of the vote.

Não deixe de votar. É um dever mas, acima de tudo, um direito enquanto cidadão australiano Source: AAP

The House of Representatives is also known as the "house of government", because whoever controls the chamber forms the government of the day. At the 2019 election, 151 people will be selected to sit in the House of Representatives. 

For the green House of Representatives ballot paper, you need to number every box with consecutive numbers from one through to however many candidates appear on the ballot paper.

The candidate who gets more than half ((50 per cent)) of the vote, wins that electorate. The reason voters need to number every box on their white ballot paper is because the Australian electoral system is preferential.

But if no candidate gets more than 50 per cent at the first count, the person with the least votes is eliminated, and the people who voted for them have their second preferences counted. This continues until one of the candidates has more than 50 per cent of the vote

The intent of the preferential voting system is to ensure that the most-preferred candidate, looking at all the preferences, is the one that is elected. This comes into play of course when no candidate has achieved more than 50 per cent of the first preference vote.

The winning candidate from every electorate is tallied and the party with the majority of seats - that is, 76 - forms the government. The leader of that party then assumes the role of prime minister.

If neither party has enough seats to form the government, it's called a hung parliament.  Political parties then approach other parties or independent members and ask them to form a coalition.

Voting for Australia's upper house - the Senate - works differently. Each state will elect six senators, while the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory will elect two Senators each. There are two ways to vote for the Senate - above the line or below the line.

If you're voting above the line, you need to number at least six boxes for the party or group appearing above the line. If voting below the line,  you need to number at least 12 boxes for individual candidates of your choice.

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