In Australia, voting is compulsory once you turn 18. That means you have to show up and have your say at every election—local, state, and federal. If you don’t, you could cop a fine.
For young voters, it’s not just about turning up and ticking a box. It’s important to understand who you’re voting for, what they stand for, and how your vote actually helps shape the future of the country.
Thanks to preferential voting, you need to number the candidates in the order you like them. It might sound complicated, but once you get your head around it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Here’s how it works (in plain English), how to explain it to young or first-time voters, and a few simple tools to help them figure out who to vote for.
Check out this short YouTube video on how preferential voting works — it makes it even easier to understand.
So, What Is Preferential Voting?
Preferential voting is a system where you don’t just vote for one candidate — you rank them in order of preference. So instead of picking just your favourite person, you get to say, “I like this person best, but if they don’t win, I’m happy with this person next, and if not them, then this one,” and so on.
You put a number 1 next to your favourite, a 2 next to your second favourite, a 3 next to your third favourite, and you keep going until you’ve numbered all the boxes.
This system makes sure that the person who wins is someone that more than half the voters are okay with, not just someone who gets the most first-choice votes.
We use preferential voting for:
- Federal Elections (House of Representatives – that’s the green ballot paper)
- State Elections (in most states)
- Some Local Council Elections
The Senate (the big white ballot paper) uses a different type of preferential voting called proportional representation, but for now, we’ll just focus on the simpler version used in the House of Representatives.
Watch this very clever explanation below – it’s a gamechanger and will likely change the way that you approach this election!
How Does Vote Counting Work?
- First preferences are counted: All the number 1 votes are added up first. If any candidate gets more than 50% of the number 1 votes straight away, they win. Easy.
- What if nobody gets 50%? If no candidate has more than half the votes, we go into distribution. This is where it gets a little tricky.
- The candidate with the fewest votes is knocked out: The person who has the fewest number 1 votes is eliminated. But those voters don’t just lose their vote — their number 2 choices are checked and their votes are passed on to those candidates.
- Votes are redistributed: The votes from the knocked-out candidate are given to whoever those voters put as their next choice.
- The process repeats: If no candidate has 50%, the next candidate with the fewest votes is knocked out, and their votes are also redistributed based on the voters’ next choices. This keeps happening until someone has more than half the votes.
- Winner declared: When a candidate finally gets over 50% of the votes (either from first preferences or from preferences passed on), they are declared the winner.
Why Do We Use Preferential Voting?
Preferential voting has some big advantages:
- It’s fairer. The winner has to have majority support, not just a small part of it.
- It stops vote splitting. If two candidates are very similar, they won’t just cancel each other out — voters can support both by ranking them first and second.
- It gives voters more power. You can support smaller parties without “wasting” your vote because if your first choice doesn’t win, your vote still counts toward your next choice.
It also means that even if your favourite doesn’t win, you still get a say in who eventually does.
What Happens If I Don’t Number All the Boxes?
In a full preferential voting system, you must number every box correctly for your vote to count. If you skip a number or use the same number twice, your vote might be considered informal (invalid), and it won’t be counted at all.
This is why it’s so important to take your time when filling in your ballot paper!
Some state and local elections use optional preferential voting, where you can just number as many boxes as you like. But at the federal level, you must number all of them.
Always read the instructions on the ballot paper carefully.
What About Donkey Votes and Informal Votes?
When people talk about “donkey votes,” they mean when someone just numbers the candidates in the order they appear on the ballot paper — top to bottom — without thinking about who they want to vote for.
For example, if the ballot paper lists:
- Alice
- Ben
- Claire
- David
A donkey voter would just mark:
- 1 for Alice
- 2 for Ben
- 3 for Claire
- 4 for David
They’re not making real choices — they’re just going down the list. Sometimes people do this because they can’t be bothered, don’t know the candidates, or think it doesn’t matter.
Informal votes happen when someone doesn’t fill out their ballot paper properly. Like if they forget to number every box, number two boxes the same, or just scribble something silly across the ballot. These votes are called informal votes, and they don’t count at all.
Why Donkey Votes and Informal Votes Don’t Help
- Donkey votes can accidentally help someone win. If a lot of people donkey vote, the person listed first on the ballot might get a small boost in votes, not because people like them, but because they’re just first on the sheet!
- Informal votes don’t count at all. If you don’t fill in your ballot correctly, your voice won’t be heard in the election. It’s like not voting at all, even if you turned up to the polling booth.
At the end of the day, donkey voting and wasting your vote don’t help you get a say in who runs the country. If you want your voice to matter, it’s important to think about who you’re voting for and make sure you number all the boxes properly.
Even if you’re not passionate about any of the candidates, ranking them thoughtfully (even if it’s just the “least bad” to “worst”) is way better than throwing your vote away.
Where Can You Learn About Political Parties and Candidates?
It’s hard to make good choices if you don’t know anything about the people running. Luckily, there are heaps of easy ways to learn about political parties and candidates before you vote.
The best place to start is by checking out the official websites of the major parties (like Labor, Liberal, Greens, Nationals) and any independents or smaller parties you’re interested in. They usually have a section that explains their policies in simple language. Reading even just a few key points can give you a better idea of who lines up with your values.
You can also look at trusted news websites that compare policies side-by-side, especially during election time. Just make sure you’re getting information from reliable sources (not just random social media posts or ads!).
Tools to Help You Decide
If you want something even quicker, there are online tools that can help match you with parties based on your views.
- Vote Compass – Vote Compass is run by the ABC and helps you see where you sit compared to the major parties. You answer simple questions about issues (like healthcare, education, the environment), and it shows you which parties you line up with most.
- Build a Ballot – Build a Ballot lets you explore the candidates in your electorate. You can see who’s running, what they stand for, and even “build” your ballot paper ahead of time so you’re ready on election day.
Both of these tools are free, easy to use, and a great way to feel a bit more confident about your choices. They’re not about telling you who to vote for — they just give you the info you need to decide for yourself.
Final Tips Before You Vote
- Check your enrolment: Make sure you’re enrolled correctly at gov.au. You can enrol once you turn 16, but you can’t vote until you’re 18.
- Know when elections are: Federal elections happen roughly every three years. State elections are usually every four years. Local council elections also happen every few years — it’s a good idea to keep an eye out so you don’t miss them.
- Take your time: When you get your ballot papers, don’t rush. Read the instructions carefully, number every box, and double-check your vote before you pop it in the box.
- Practice if you need to: Sites like Build a Ballot let you practice voting ahead of time so you feel more confident on the day.
- Remember, your vote matters: Even if you feel like “just one vote” doesn’t count, it absolutely does — especially in close races. Your voice is important.
And if you get into it, you can even work at a polling place during elections! The AEC often hires staff for election day. It’s a great way to learn more about the process (and you get paid for it).
Voting might feel overwhelming at first, but once you understand how preferential voting works, it’s pretty empowering. You’re not just picking a leader — you’re shaping the future you want to live in.
Voting isn’t just a chore — it’s your chance to shape the future. Preferential voting gives you more power than you might think, letting you support the candidates you care about without wasting your vote.
Take a few minutes to do your homework, number those boxes properly, and make your vote count. Your voice matters whether you’re all-in on a particular party or just picking the best of a bad bunch.
And once you understand how the system works, you might even enjoy it.
