How-to-vote
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A SIZEABLE shift in preferences directed to Labor was the game-changer in the Queensland election.
As NSW looks to its election on March 28, will the state's preference pendulum also swing to Labor?
NSW allows optional preferential voting in the Legislative Assembly (Lower House), unlike most other Australian states and territories.
Other states and territories insist that voters must number all the listed candidates on the ballot paper.
But NSW allows voters to choose just one candidate, so long as their box on the ballot paper is numbered "1".
NSW voters have the option to number as many or as few of the listed candidates as they like.
But ballot papers with only one numbered candidate can be quickly excluded in the counting process.
To explain: to be elected, a candidate has to receive 50 per cent plus one vote of the total formal votes, an "absolute majority".
If no candidate is elected in the first round of counting, the candidate with least votes is excluded.
The excluded candidate's votes are redistributed to their second preference.
But ballot papers that do not have a second preference are removed from the count.
This reduces the primary pool of votes from which the successful candidate needs half (plus one) to be elected.
The process is repeated until one candidate achieves an absolute majority of votes.
As an example, say there are 1000 voters and four candidates. One candidate would need 501 votes to be elected.
But if no candidate achieved 501 in the first count, and 100 of the voters gave no second preference, the new "absolute majority" is 451 votes (that is, 1000 votes less 100 votes equals 900 votes of which half plus one is 451).
This means that if you only vote 1 preference, regardless of whether or not your candidate is in the lead, your vote for them will not continue beyond the first round of counting. So while it may be enticing to vote for just one candidate, there's a risk your vote will be lost in the process.
iVOTE
Online registration to vote by internet or telephone access is open now until 1pm on Saturday, March 28.
Eligibility to vote by internet or telephone access includes: living more than 20km from a polling booth; a disability as defined by the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977; absence from New South Wales on election day; vision impairment; or illiteracy.
Register by calling 1300 24 86 83 between 9am and 5pm (EDST) weekdays, or at registration.ivote.nsw.gov.au and have your passport or driver licence in hand.
Postal Votes
Online registration to vote by postal return closes today (Wednesday, March 25) for local deliveries. The NSW Electoral Commission must receive the correctly completed ballot paper no later than 6pm (EDST) on Wednesday, April 1. Register at registration.ivote.nsw.gov.au
Pre-Polling
Pre-polling booths have been open since 8am on Monday, March 16, and will remain open until 6pm most days up to March 27.
GOULBURN
Bowral: St Thomas Aquinas hall, 24 Bundaroo Street (assisted access).
WOLLONDILLY
Bowral: St Thomas Aquinas hall, 24 Bundaroo Street (assisted access).
Bowral: Wollondilly Returning Officer's office, 288 Bong Bong Street, (assisted access).