Informal Voting

Informal voting in Australia is a sometimes controversial aspect of the electoral system. Rules differ between the House of Representatives and the Senate, sometimes causing confusion.

House of Representatives

Informal Voting Statistics – 1983-2010 – Tasmania – ACT – NT

Analysis of 2004 Federal Election Informal Votes – AEC Research Paper (PDF)

Analysis of 2004 Informal Votes – Seat-by-seat – AEC Research Paper (PDF)

Categories of Informal Voting 1987 – an interesting set of statistics showing how informal voters spoiled their ballot papers.

Senate

Informal Voting Statistics – 1983-2010

Louise Duck

who gets my vote if i leave it blank?

http://australianpolitics.com Malcolm Farnsworth

No-one, it’s informal and isn’t counted.

http://steshaw.org/ Steven Shaw

but to ensure that nothing untoward happens to your vote, it might be best to write across the whole ballet: “NONE OF THE ABOVE” or some such message to tickle the vote counters

http://steshaw.org/ Steven Shaw

Lodging an informal vote may be one of the best forms of protest