Voting reform to affect micro parties

Casting a vote for senators could be made simpler under modest changes which could pass parliament before the election.

Labor and the Greens are in talks with the government on ensuring the Senate election result better reflects voters' intentions.

A bipartisan parliamentary electoral matters report in May 2014 said voters should be able to mark preferences above the line on Senate ballot papers, and not have to number all the boxes below the line.

One option under active consideration is allowing voters to number only six candidates below the line in a half-Senate election, or 12 in a full Senate poll.

Voting above the line hands the flow of preferences over to the parties that lodge "group voting tickets" with the Australian Electoral Commission.

There have been concerns that group voting tickets have been exploited by small "pop-up" parties, enabling candidates to win with a tiny proportion of the vote.

At the 2013 election, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party candidate Ricky Muir won a Victorian Senate seat with only 0.51 per cent of the primary vote.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor was talking with the government, and within the party, about reforming Senate voting.

"It's a matter for the government to put forward that proposal - we are hoping that occurs soon," he said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who is meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday, said his party wanted to put an end to backroom preference deals.

"The people's vote needs to be reflected in the parliament - the current system doesn't do that," he said.

Independent senator John Madigan said changing the system would leave political power in the hands of a cartel of major parties.

Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm said he had spoken with the minister responsible for electoral matters, Mathias Cormann, who gave no indication he wanted to get rid of group voting tickets.

"But certainly they are looking around for some changes to be made," he said.

The senator is comfortable with the idea of limiting below the line preferences to the number of seats to be filled.

Meanwhile, the prime minister's suggestion a double-dissolution election was a "live option" has received a mixed response.

Senator Leyonhjelm said that while he thought it was a "realistic possibility" and not a bluff, it was not Mr Turnbull's first choice and it would be complicated by factors such as changing the Senate voting system and delivering a budget in May.

Labor frontbencher Jason Clare said the threat had "all the menace of a Maltese terrier".