Vote 1 Jane Ward

A True Community Independent for Sydney

Voting Day : Saturday, 21st August 2010

Electoral Reform

1984 saw the introduction of voting above the line for the federal upper house, and in this case preference swapping by the major parties kept Peter Garrett out of the Senate. Many voters were not aware of the details of the preference swapping and so, I feel, were not fully controlling their vote.

Now, the parties and media treat voters as nothing more than couriers delivering preferences to their power brokers.

Voters are also confused by the differences in the three electoral systems: federal, state and local. These should be simplified and standardised. In particular, proportional representation must apply at federal and state level with a reduced compulsory number of boxes to fill. Voting above the line should be abolished at local government level. In future elections I would like all ballot papers to be simplified and people better educated as to how to fully control their vote. The House of Representatives ballot paper is straight-forward, but the Australian Electoral Commission public advertisements need to be explicit that preference votes are transferred as full votes. This also applies to state electoral authorities.

Postal voting application forms should not carry MP advertising material and must be returned directly to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), not to the MP's office.

Electronic voting and other new electoral technologies should be introduced at all levels to reduce the bullying of candidates for preferences, the harassment of voters at polling booths and the generation of enormous amount of paper waste.