Who Can Vote for the House of Representatives
By voting at elections for the House of Representatives the people of each electoral division (also chosen an electorate or a constituency) select a person to represent them in the Firm. By selecting their representatives the voters, or electors, indirectly select the nation's regime, considering the government is formed from the political party or alliance of parties (coalition) which has a majority (or the back up of a majority) of the Members of the House of Representatives.
When are elections held?
Under Australia's Constitution each Firm of Representatives may last no more than 3 years from the first meeting of the House after an election, but may be dissolved sooner. General elections are then held to elect all Members of the House of Representatives, according to the timetable below.
If a seat in the House becomes vacant between general elections, for example, if a Member resigns or dies, a by-ballot is held to elect a new Member to represent that electorate until the next general election.
Who tin can stand for election?
Candidates for election must be Australian citizens and be eligible to vote. Senators, Members of Land Parliaments, public servants, including defence personnel, and officers of the Electoral Committee are not eligible to become Members of the Firm of Representatives and must resign their position if they wish to nominate for ballot to the Firm. Some public service bodies have arrangements to allow unsuccessful candidates to rejoin the public service after the election. People who are citizens of, or hold allegiance to, a foreign country; who are undischarged bankrupts; or who have been convicted of certain offences are too non eligible to become Members.
Candidates must exist nominated by a political political party or by at least 100 electors of the electorate to be contested. However, a sitting Member who was elected as an independent needs nomination by only one elector, if they wish to stand again for the same seat. On nomination candidates pay a eolith of $2,000. This is returned if the candidate is elected or receives at to the lowest degree iv per cent of the (first preference) votes bandage in the electorate.
Who votes?
Australian citizens who are xviii years of historic period or older are required to enrol equally voters unless they are not eligible because, for example, they are of 'an unsound mind' or serving a sentence of imprisonment of three years or more than. Voting is compulsory for all people enrolled. People who do non vote may be fined.
Who conducts the ballot?
The Australian Electoral Commission, a statutory authority headed by the Balloter Commissioner, is responsible for the assistants of all Democracy balloter matters including, for instance, the behave of elections, the maintenance of upwardly to date lists of electors (electoral rolls) and the cartoon of electorate boundaries. An election takes place in response to a formal order (writ) from the Governor-General (or the Speaker in the case of a past-election) requiring the Electoral Commissioner to conduct an election. For a general election a single writ is issued for each state and territory.
AEC staff counting the votes on an election mean solar day
Voting
The ballot paper for each balloter division lists candidates' names and shows the parties they represent (if they do not stand for a party, candidates may asking to be shown as an 'Independent'). Candidates are listed in a random order, determined by drawing lots.
The system of voting used in elections for the House of Representatives is preferential, that is, voters have to rank all candidates in order of preference—they may not just vote for ane candidate. Voters are directed to mark their vote on the election paper by placing numbers in the squares contrary the names of the candidates and then as to indicate their social club of preference, for example, if there are three candidates, by writing the numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the appropriate squares. Ballot papers which are incorrectly filled out (informal) are non valid and are non included in the count.
Preferential voting is designed to produce the election of the candidate who is most representative of the wishes of an electorate. To be successful a candidate must exist supported past the majority (that is, more than half) of voters. This arrangement is considered fairer than a non-preferential (first-past-the-mail service) system under which the candidate with the most votes is elected, even though he or she may have back up from less than half the voters.
The result—announcement of the poll and return of the writs
The result of each election is appear (declared) every bit presently as possible after counting has been completed in the electoral partitioning. Following a general election, when the results for all divisions have been declared the Balloter Commissioner certifies on each writ the name of the successful candidate for each division and returns the writs to the Governor-General, who in turn forward them to the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
The validity of an election may be challenged by a petition addressed to the Court of Disputed Returns (the High Courtroom acting in a special capacity). This may occur if it is alleged that a candidate was not eligible to become a Fellow member for one of the reasons listed before in this infosheet or if it is claimed that there has been some irregularity in the election process.
Disclosure of income and expenditure, public funding
All candidates are required to make returns to the Electoral Committee detailing any donations they take received for electoral purposes and balloter expenditure they take incurred or authorised. Political parties besides accept to submit annual returns or copies of their audited accounts. Disclosure laws as well apply to other people involved in the electoral process. This data is publicly available on the Balloter Commission website.
Candidates who receive at to the lowest degree iv per cent of the (first preference) vote are reimbursed for electoral expenses by a specified amount for each such vote they receive. Election funding is paid either to a registered party on behalf of each endorsed candidate or is paid direct to a candidate who is not endorsed by a registered party. This amount (which was approximately $ii.75 per vote for the election held on 18 May 2019) is indexed for inflation.
Electoral divisions
Commonwealth of australia is currently divided into 151 electoral divisions, each represented by i Member. Under the Constitution each existing state is guaranteed at least five Members, but all states except Tasmania now have more than, the numbers depending on their population. States may proceeds or lose Members as a consequence of population movements. Considering of Australia's uneven distribution of population, electoral divisions differ greatly in expanse, ranging from 32 sq. km (Grayndler, NSW) to over ane.6 million sq. km (Durack, WA). At June 2019, there was an average of approximately 109,718 electors per electorate.
Electoral boundaries are reviewed regularly and, if necessary, adapted (redistributed) to reverberate population changes. The aim of redistribution is to ensure that balloter divisions within each land or territory contain approximately an equal number of electors. The terminal redistribution occurred on 31 Baronial 2017, resulting in an increment in the number of electorates from 150 to 151 at the 2022 general election (with the Human action gaining the new seat). The number of electoral divisions in each of the states and territories is beneath:
| New Due south Wales | 47 |
| Victoria | 38 |
| Queensland | xxx |
| Western Commonwealth of australia | 16 |
| South Australia | 10 |
| Tasmania | 5 |
| Australian Majuscule Territory | 3 |
| Northern Territory | 2 |
| TOTAL | 151 |
When is the next general election?
The last possible date for the next election is within 68 days from the expiry of the House. Every bit the 46th Parliament first met on Tuesday ii July 2019, it is due to expire on Friday ane July 2022. The adjacent election for the Business firm of Representatives must therefore be held by 3 September 2022, the terminal Saturday within the 68 day menstruation. However, an election may exist held at any time earlier that engagement.
As House of Representatives and one-half-Senate elections are usually held simultaneously, the earliest date for such an ballot would be Saturday 7 Baronial 2021.
As the latest possible date for a half-Senate election is Sat 21 May 2022, the latest possible date for a simultaneous (one-half-Senate and House of Representatives) election is also Saturday 21 May 2022.
For more information
Firm of Representatives Practice , seventh edn, Section of the Business firm of Representatives, Canberra, 2018,
pp. 85–106.
Australian Electoral Commission website: www.aec.gov.au
Paradigm courtesy of Arthur Mostead, AEC.
Timetable for general elections
Source: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_8_-_Elections_for_the_House_of_Representatives
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