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Martin Lehmann - 6 October 2004
Blatant vote buying in the 2004 federal election by the major parties threatens to derail Australia's
future prosperity. The election promises so far have burnt around $60 billion of
taxpayers money.
Australian voters need to give the major parties an almighty kick in the
backside as a warning that they are sick of the waste and re-distribution of
taxpayers' money.
How to give a message to the major parties
If you want to vote Labor or Liberal but also want to send them a message
then give your number one vote to a minor party or independent and then
give your number two vote to the major party of your choice.
Disregard all how-to-vote cards and number all the boxes in your order of
preference.
In most seats and particularly the marginals, all of the minor parties will
be eliminated so that your major party vote will still count. However, a
significant vote for the minor parties will send a powerful message to the major
parties.
Do not vote above the line in the Senate voting paper as the party you vote
for will allocate your preferences their own way, but instead number every box below the
line in order of your preference.
However this does not include giving your first vote to the Greens as they are
already on the threshold of holding the balance of power in the Senate.
How the preferential voting system works
Let's say you have given your number one vote to the Family First Party and
your
number two to the Liberal Party and so on down
the paper.
When the votes are counted, your paper will end up on the Family First
bundle. If no candidate has an absolute majority (which is the case in most
seats), then the candidate with the
least votes is eliminated and the votes in his bundle re-distributed. If this is
the Family First candidate then your voting paper is transferred to the Liberal
candidate's bundle. If there is still no winner, then the next
lowest candidate is eliminated and so on until there is a candidate with 50 per
cent plus one vote.
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