The Liberal party will seek support from Labor for an overhaul of the Senate voting system.
Liberal federal director Brian Loughnane has called for parliament's joint standing committee on electoral matters to launch a broad review of the 2013 election.
"It has become increasingly clear in recent elections that parts of our electoral system are not functioning as they should," Mr Loughnane told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.
"There are some warning signs which should give concern and which should be honestly examined."
He said the large number of candidates for the Senate in some states had created "confusion" for voters.
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A total of 529 candidates nominated for 40 Senate vacancies, including 110 in NSW and 97 in Victoria.
Preference deals between micro parties - put together by a new breed of electoral "entrepreneurs" - had distorted the Senate result, Mr Loughnane said.
"(This) did not reflect the will of the people," Mr Loughnane said.
The Liberal strategist also pointed to the success of the Liberal Democrats, which achieved a Senate seat in NSW, as evidence that the rules governing similarly-named parties need changing.
Party insiders believe the Liberal Democrats' 9.5 per cent vote - a far cry from the 2.3 per cent achieved in 2010 - was due to voter confusion about the name and the party's first-place position on the ballot paper.
The laws governing enrolment and voter identification, which currently has a lower requirement than signing up to a DVD library, should also be examined, Mr Loughnane said.
The veteran political director would also like to see the parliamentary committee look at advertising spending, having estimated billionaire Clive Palmer was outspending the Labor party towards the end of the campaign.
"The fact that somebody can lob in and spend $15-$20 million has an impact," he said.
