What Do You Need to Win the House of Representatives

By voting at elections for the House of Representatives the people of each electoral division (also called an electorate or a constituency) select a person to represent them in the House. By selecting their representatives the voters, or electors, indirectly select the nation's authorities, considering the authorities is formed from the political party or brotherhood 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 House of Representatives may concluding no more than three years from the outset meeting of the Firm after an election, but may be dissolved sooner. General elections are so held to elect all Members of the House of Representatives, according to the timetable below.

If a seat in the House becomes vacant between full general elections, for example, if a Member resigns or dies, a by-election is held to elect a new Fellow member to stand for that electorate until the next general election.

Who can stand for election?

Candidates for election must be Australian citizens and be eligible to vote. Senators, Members of State Parliaments, public servants, including defence personnel, and officers of the Balloter Commission are not eligible to go Members of the House of Representatives and must resign their position if they wish to nominate for election to the Firm. Some public service bodies have arrangements to allow unsuccessful candidates to rejoin the public service subsequently the election. People who are citizens of, or hold fidelity to, a foreign country; who are undischarged bankrupts; or who have been convicted of certain offences are as well not eligible to go Members.

Candidates must be nominated by a political party or by at least 100 electors of the electorate to exist contested. Nevertheless, a sitting Member who was elected as an independent needs nomination by only 1 elector, if they wish to stand again for the aforementioned seat. On nomination candidates pay a deposit of $ii,000. This is returned if the candidate is elected or receives at least 4 per cent of the (commencement preference) votes cast in the electorate.

Who votes?

Australian citizens who are 18 years of historic period or older are required to enrol as 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 practise not vote may be fined.

Who conducts the election?

The Australian Electoral Committee, a statutory potency headed by the Electoral Commissioner, is responsible for the administration of all Republic electoral matters including, for example, the comport of elections, the maintenance of up to appointment lists of electors (electoral rolls) and the drawing 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 by-election) requiring the Electoral Commissioner to acquit an election. For a full general ballot a single writ is issued for each state and territory.

AEC staff counting the votes on an election 24-hour interval

Voting

The election paper for each balloter sectionalisation lists candidates' names and shows the parties they represent (if they practise non represent a party, candidates may asking to exist shown as an 'Independent'). Candidates are listed in a random order, determined by cartoon lots.

The organisation of voting used in elections for the Firm of Representatives is preferential, that is, voters have to rank all candidates in lodge of preference—they may non but vote for i candidate. Voters are directed to mark their vote on the ballot paper by placing numbers in the squares opposite the names of the candidates so as to signal their order of preference, for case, if there are three candidates, past writing the numbers 1, ii and 3 in the appropriate squares. Election papers which are incorrectly filled out (informal) are not valid and are not 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 by the majority (that is, more than half) of voters. This system is considered fairer than a non-preferential (first-past-the-post) 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 issue—announcement of the poll and return of the writs

The consequence of each ballot is announced (declared) as soon equally possible after counting has been completed in the electoral sectionalization. Post-obit a general ballot, when the results for all divisions have been declared the Electoral 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 forwards them to the Clerk of the Firm of Representatives.

The validity of an election may be challenged past 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 Member for one of the reasons listed earlier in this infosheet or if information technology is claimed that at that place 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 have received for electoral purposes and electoral expenditure they take incurred or authorised. Political parties also have 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 Electoral Commission website.

Candidates who receive at to the lowest degree four per cent of the (beginning preference) vote are reimbursed for electoral expenses by a specified amount for each such vote they receive. Ballot funding is paid either to a registered political party on behalf of each endorsed candidate or is paid directly to a candidate who is not endorsed past a registered party. This corporeality (which was approximately $2.75 per vote for the ballot held on xviii May 2019) is indexed for aggrandizement.

Electoral divisions

Australia is currently divided into 151 electoral divisions, each represented by i Fellow member. Nether the Constitution each existing land is guaranteed at least v Members, but all states except Tasmania at present have more, the numbers depending on their population. States may gain or lose Members as a consequence of population movements. Because of Australia'southward uneven distribution of population, balloter divisions differ greatly in area, ranging from 32 sq. km (Grayndler, NSW) to over 1.6 million sq. km (Durack, WA). At June 2019, there was an average of approximately 109,718 electors per electorate.

Balloter boundaries are reviewed regularly and, if necessary, adjusted (redistributed) to reflect population changes. The aim of redistribution is to ensure that electoral divisions within each country or territory comprise approximately an equal number of electors. The last redistribution occurred on 31 August 2017, resulting in an increase in the number of electorates from 150 to 151 at the 2022 general ballot (with the ACT gaining the new seat). The number of electoral divisions in each of the states and territories is below:

New South Wales	47
Victoria	38
Queensland	30
Western Australia	sixteen
South Australia	x
Tasmania	5
Australian Capital Territory	3
Northern Territory	two
TOTAL	151

When is the next general ballot?

The last possible engagement for the adjacent election is inside 68 days from the expiry of the House. Equally the 46th Parliament first met on Tuesday 2 July 2019, it is due to elapse on Friday i July 2022. The next ballot for the Business firm of Representatives must therefore exist held by 3 September 2022, the last Saturday within the 68 mean solar day period. All the same, an election may be held at any time before that date.

Equally House of Representatives and half-Senate elections are usually held simultaneously, the primeval date for such an election would be Saturday 7 August 2021.

As the latest possible date for a half-Senate election is Saturday 21 May 2022, the latest possible date for a simultaneous (half-Senate and Firm of Representatives) election is also Sat 21 May 2022.

For more information

House of Representatives Practice , 7th edn, Department of the House of Representatives, Canberra, 2018,
pp. 85–106.

Australian Electoral Commission website: www.aec.gov.au

Image courtesy of Arthur Mostead, AEC.

Timetable for general elections

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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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