Frank and Henry explain: Preferential Voting

Words by Amelia Luke
Art by Evangelia Karageorgos

EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS POND – DAY
Scene opens on Frank and Henry, sitting on a bench. They are pigeons.

Frank:     Hey Henry, did you see STATE ELECTION is coming up?

Henry:    Has it really been FOUR YEARS already? Crikey, time flies.

Frank:     Yep! It’s really soon, on the THIRD SATURDAY OF MARCH

Henry:    Thank goodness you said something, I hadn’t realised!

Frank:     Do you know who you want to vote for?

Henry:    Well, I’m not super happy with how CURRENT PREMIER has handled LATEST CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC, to be frank.

Frank:     No, I’m Frank, but I get you.

Henry:    It’s bumming me out, but what can you do? OPPOSITION PARTY is even worse.

Frank:     Henry, do you know how preferential voting works?

Henry:    Let’s say I don’t, for the sake of this script.

Frank:     Well, to win a seat in the STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, a candidate needs to receive at least 51% of the total vote from their ELECTORAL DISTRICT.

Henry:    Okay, but what happens if no one gets to 51%?

Frank:     Well, once everyone’s ① (first preference) votes have been tallied, if no candidate is at 51% or more, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated. But everyone who voted for LOSER hasn’t squandered their vote! We look at the ② (second preference) votes of everyone who voted for LOSER and distribute these second-choice votes to the other candidates. If this brings a candidate up to ³51%, they win! If not, the second-lowest candidate is eliminated, and their votes are distributed according to preferences amongst the remaining candidates again. This goes on until there’s finally a winner!

Henry:    Oh, so that’s why you have to number all the boxes on the GREEN BALLOT PAPER, so if my first choice doesn’t win, I might still get my second or third choice!

Frank:     Exactly! You can vote for CURRENT PARTY IN POWERif you want, or OPPOSITION PARTY, but you can also vote for MINOR PARTY and not risk wasting your vote! Just put whoever you want to win more above whoever you want to win least. Plus, the more votes a candidate or party gets, the more funding they receive at the next election – and the more likely it is their policies will be seen as popular and adopted by other parties.

Henry:    Seems like someone really thought this system through! Not like OTHER WESTERN NATION YOU DISLIKE.

Frank:     No kidding!

Henry:    While I’ve got you, what about the WHITE BALLOT PAPER? That one always looks super complicated.

Frank:     Well, on that one, you’re voting for members of THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. It’s not quite as scary as it looks. You can either vote above the red line for political parties or below the red line for individuals. Just don’t do both! THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCILis like a single electorate that covers the whole state and works on proportional representation – a party’s percentage of seats reflects their percentage of votes!

Henry:    Thanks for talking me through this, Frank. Looks like if I have any more questions, I can go to the ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA website too!

Frank:     No worries, mate. Glad I could clarify all that for you.

Quackers the Duck enters.

Quackers:    Hey guys, what are you talking about?

Frank:     Hey Quackers, we were just talking about the upcoming STATE ELECTION Don’t forget to vote!

Quackers:    Frank, you do know birds don’t get a vote?

Frank:     WHAT THE FUCK?!