How to Vote for the Environment

1. How the Voting System Works

In Australia everybody has to vote. When we vote at a Federal election or a State election in Victoria, we have to fill all the boxes on the ballot paper, numbered in order of most preferred to least preferred candidate. If you don't number all the boxes, your vote is invalid.*

Once everybody has voted, the votes are counted. The first preference votes are counted first. A first preference is where you put the number one on the ballot paper.

If someone gets more than fifty percent of the votes they are declared the winner. If not, the candidate with the lowest votes is knocked out and the votes for that person are redistributed to the remaining candidates, based on what the next preference was on each individual ballot paper.

This process continues till someone gets more than fifty percent of the vote.

*When voting for the senate you can choose not to number every box and instead put a number 1 in the boxes at the top of the page. In this case the party you vote for will determine how your preferences flow.

2. Your First Preference Vote

Your first preference vote goes to the candidate whose box you put the number 1 in.

It is important that your first preference vote goes to an environmental independent, the Greens, or the Democrats. This sends a message to the major parties that the environment is important.

Your first preference vote is also the figure that gets reported in the media and therefore high first preference votes for environmental independents, the Greens, or the Democrats are important.

3. Your Second Preference Vote

Once you've decided who you're giving your first preference to, you need to decide who to give your second preference to.

If there are still environmental independents, the Greens, or the Democrats on the ballot, your second preference should go to them. This also sends a message to the major parties that the environment is important.

4. Your Other Preferences

Once you have decided who you're giving your first and second preferences to, you need to decide what to do with your other preferences.

If there are still environmental independents, the Greens, or the Democrats on the ballot, number them third and fourth, etc.

Once you have done this, order the rest of the parties depending on how much support they have given, or are promising to give, to the environment, by numbering the remaining boxes from most environmentally friendly to least. Check out the examples below.

In the end you will need to choose which of the two major parties (Liberal/National or Labor) you are going to support ahead of the other. As before, consider how much support they have given, or are promising to give to the environment.

Example 1
This is a vote supporting the environment and Labor.

1. Environmental Independent
2. The Greens
3. The Democrats
4. Labor
5. Liberal

Example 2
On an actual ballot paper the order is random, so your ballot paper may look something more like this. Example 2 has exactly the same preference order as Example 1, but with the parties arranged in a different order.

4. Labor
2. The Greens
5. Liberal
1. Environmental Independent
3. The Democrats

Notice in both examples 1 and 2, how the person has numbered Labor above Liberal by placing a number 4 next to the Labor candidate and a number 5 next to the Liberal candidate. This means their vote will go to Labor before Liberal.

Example 3
This is a vote supporting the environment and the Liberal party.

3. The Democrats
2. The Greens
5. Labor
4. Liberal
1. Environmental Independent

5. Effect of Your Preference Vote

The vast majority of seats in Australia are decided between Liberal and Labor. Some are won by the National Party and a very few by independents or the minor parties.

In seats where the vote is close between the two parties (i.e. a marginal seat), all the minor parties and independent candidates will be knocked out and their preferences distributed to see who wins the seat. That's why in marginal seats individual voters and the preferences of minor parties and independents are hugely important.

If you don't live in a marginal seat but in a safe seat, your vote doesn't mean that much to the politicians, so you may as well vote for the party that usually loses. The more marginal the seat you live in, the more politicians will listen to you, and the more likely your electorate will get better roads, schools and hospitals.

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Last Updated: 22/6/04 by KL