Donkey vote
Encyclopedia
Donkey voters vote the way candidates appear on the ballot paper. Sometimes the term "donkey vote" is incorrectly used to refer to an informal vote (submitting a blank or defaced ballot paper) although this use is not included in major dictionaries.
In Australia, where all federal and state and territory electoral systems combine compulsory voter turnout with some form of preferential voting
, donkey vote refers to the practice of numbering the candidates as they appear on the ballot paper, instead of numbering them according to one's preference. This form of voting is most common when full preferential voting is required, such as at Australian federal elections or in the Australian state of Victoria
.
There are different versions of the phenomenon applicable in the Australian House of Representatives
, Australian Senate
and in the Australian jurisdictions that use the Hare-Clark
system. Donkey votes are typically cast by uninterested voters, protesting voters or voters ignorant about the voting system. The lack of a None of the Above
option in Australian elections also contributes to the presence of donkey votes. As voting is compulsory in Australia, "donkey votes" are an important measure of protest or apathy. The number of voters that protest against voting by spoiling their ballot or submitting a blank ballot is unknown, as these votes are tallied along with informal votes.
Some estimate that "donkey votes" can comprise up to 2% of the total. It is said that parties used to deliberately select candidates with a high alphabetical ranking. In 1984 voting reforms were introduced to lessen this effect, including listing names in a random order.
Donkey votes are not limited to Australia: a similar effect has been observed in other democracies, even those without compulsory preferential voting, although the unique presence of these two factors in Australia makes the phenomenon more visible. Donkey voting shows up in US elections, for example, in states which use the "long ballot" for numerous offices, or in multi-seat elections where there are several candidates from the same party. In his book The Rise of Guardian Democracy: The Supreme Court’s Role in Voting Rights, 1845-1969 (Massachusetts: Harvard UP, 1974), Ward E.Y. Elliott notes:
British pro-STV campaigner Enid Lakeman
noted the same effect in UK local elections, where significant numbers of voters invited to X (say) three candidates for three council seats would simply X the three highest on the ballot-paper, even if they belonged to different parties.
However, since most non-preferential elections require the voter to mark only one single candidate, or one single party list, it becomes impossible to speculate how many votes for the first candidate or party on the ballot are genuine supporters and how many simply "donkey-voted".
Furthermore, in societies where voting is not compulsory, it seems counter-intuitive that many who attend the polls would be apathetic. However, there may be countervailing factors that produce a "donkey vote" even with voluntary turnout. In many US elections, a voter may well be intensely interested in (e.g.) the Presidential contest but not in other, less prominent races on the same "long ballot".
In Ireland, where voting is preferential but not compulsory, the donkey vote has its greatest effect not between parties but within them. With an alphabetical list of candidates, and several candidates from each major party for the 3 to 5 seats per district, the proportion of Dáil Éireann
deputies with surnames A to M is typically much higher than 50%, whereas it is only about half the population (according to the Irish telephone directory). (See, eg, B Walsh and C Robson, Alphabetical Voting: A Study of the 1973 General Election in the Republic of Ireland, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), General Research Series No #71, Dublin, January 1973). In O’Reilly v Minister for Environment [1986] IR 143, the Irish High Court upheld the constitutional validity of alphabetical listing against an equality-rights challenge, noting that despite its faults, A to Z does have the advantage of making it easy to find candidates on the ballot-paper.
Moreover, in some elections (e.g. Germany and some US States), the order of parties on the ballot is descending order of their support at the previous election (with new parties being placed lowest in random order). A system like this makes high ballot position both a cause and an effect of high electoral support.
The donkey vote became established with the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924. As some voters came out to vote only to avoid a fine, some sought to vote in this manner because of apathy.
An example of a hypothetical donkey vote cast at the 2004 Australian House of Representatives might be.
Division of Gwydir
This is likely to be a donkey vote because the National Party would have issued a how-to-vote card suggesting that voters place the Labor candidate second last behind the One Nation candidate. It is also unlikely that a National Party voter would give second and third preference to Labor and the Greens.
On the other hand, in some electorates, it is possible to cast a donkey vote consistent with ideological preference or party instruction. For example, in the 2004 election in the Division of Grayndler
, it would be possible for a donkey voter to cast this vote:
Division of Grayndler
Such a vote would be consistent with ideological inclination, and were in fact the instructions on the Green how-to-vote card.
The donkey vote has been estimated at between 1 and 2% of the vote, which could be critical in a marginal seat. In 1984, reforms were made to Federal electoral legislation to reduce the impact of donkey voting including:
These reforms as well as an increase in electoral education funding have reduced the impact of donkey voting in Federal elections in recent years. As states have introduced similar reforms, the phenomenon has also been reduced in other jurisdictions. However, the phenomenon of donkey voting still needs to be taken into account when assessing the size of the swing or two-party vote in particular electorates.
was held on 19 March 2005, following the resignation of Federal Labor
leader Mark Latham
, provides a good example for understanding the nature of donkey voting.
At this by-election, 16 candidates were nominated. This large number of candidates led to an increased incentive to cast a donkey vote. Every candidate who issued how-to-votes used some variation of the donkey vote when instructing their voters how to preference, presumably to simplify the task of voting, made onerous by needing to vote for 16 candidates, many with no public profile. Candidates generally allocated their first few preferences and last few preferences to candidates according to their wishes, then numbered the rest of the boxes from top to bottom or bottom to top. For example, The Greens
advocated the following preferences:
In this case, the how-to-vote card advocates a first preference for the Greens, a second preference for the PLP, a third preference for Labor and a last preference for One Nation. Apart from these preferences, the card advocates a reverse Donkey Vote.
The donkey vote was also reflected in the high vote (4.83%) for Australians Against Further Immigration, who would normally gain far fewer votes, but were placed first on the ballot.
and Arthur - all of the "Four A's" were duly elected.
The Chifley
Government introduced proportional representation
for the Senate in 1949. Candidates were listed alphabetically in party order and the position of the parties candidates on the ballot paper was determined by lot after the close of nominations.
In large states such as NSW or Victoria, there might be over 100 candidates on the ballot paper with requirements for voters to list each candidate in order of preference. Consequently, there was a high proportion of informal votes and donkey votes cast in Senate elections.
As a result, electoral reforms were introduced in 1984 allowing voters to vote 1 above the line for the party of their choice and the preferences to be distributed according to a ticket lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission prior to the commencement of voting. This reform has greatly reduced the incidence of donkey voting and informal voting in Australian Senate elections.
However, this system has led to a great increase of horse trading by parties in the development of the distribution of preferences as it makes the difference in deciding who fills the final few positions in the Senate representing that state. For example, the election of Steve Fielding
of the Family First Party
in the Victorian Senate election with a party vote of 1.88% is an example of the results of horse-trading associated with this process. States which use proportional representation to elect their upper houses such as NSW use a similar system to the Senate.
proportional representation system to elect their lower houses: namely, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (unicameral system). Tasmania has used Hare-Clark since 1907, and the ACT since 1995. Candidates used to be listed in alphabetical order within a party list leading to a donkey vote effect. For their ballots to be valid, voters need only number as many candidates as there are vacancies to be filled, although they are free to number all the candidates if they wish.
However, it was observed that often a candidate whose name appeared below the name of a popular candidate (such as a State party leader) would be elected on the leader's second preferences. As popular leaders such as Robin Gray
, Kate Carnell
or Jon Stanhope
have achieved several quotas of first-preference votes in their own right at the height of their popularity, the impact of this position can lead to candidates being elected on the leaders' "coat-tails". A similar phenomenon has been observed in Ireland and Malta, which also use STV (with candidates ranked alphabetically).
In 1979, Neil Robson, a Liberal member for Bass
in the Tasmanian parliament, introduced the system known as Robson Rotation
. Under this system, each ballot paper contains a different permutation of candidates so each candidate has a certain proportion of times at every position in their party's column, therefore equally dispersing the donkey votes and nullifying their impact on the result.
In Australia, where all federal and state and territory electoral systems combine compulsory voter turnout with some form of preferential voting
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...
, donkey vote refers to the practice of numbering the candidates as they appear on the ballot paper, instead of numbering them according to one's preference. This form of voting is most common when full preferential voting is required, such as at Australian federal elections or in the Australian state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
.
There are different versions of the phenomenon applicable in the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
, Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
and in the Australian jurisdictions that use the Hare-Clark
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
system. Donkey votes are typically cast by uninterested voters, protesting voters or voters ignorant about the voting system. The lack of a None of the Above
None of the above
None of the Above or against all is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system...
option in Australian elections also contributes to the presence of donkey votes. As voting is compulsory in Australia, "donkey votes" are an important measure of protest or apathy. The number of voters that protest against voting by spoiling their ballot or submitting a blank ballot is unknown, as these votes are tallied along with informal votes.
Some estimate that "donkey votes" can comprise up to 2% of the total. It is said that parties used to deliberately select candidates with a high alphabetical ranking. In 1984 voting reforms were introduced to lessen this effect, including listing names in a random order.
Donkey votes are not limited to Australia: a similar effect has been observed in other democracies, even those without compulsory preferential voting, although the unique presence of these two factors in Australia makes the phenomenon more visible. Donkey voting shows up in US elections, for example, in states which use the "long ballot" for numerous offices, or in multi-seat elections where there are several candidates from the same party. In his book The Rise of Guardian Democracy: The Supreme Court’s Role in Voting Rights, 1845-1969 (Massachusetts: Harvard UP, 1974), Ward E.Y. Elliott notes:
"One long-time Democrat precinct captain in Denver noted that, besides having party or lobby support, a candidate had to rank high in the ballot list. Since ballot ranking was alphabetical, most of the eight Denver [district State] Senators had names beginning with A, B or C." (p 362, citing appellants’ brief in Lucas v Colorado).
British pro-STV campaigner Enid Lakeman
Enid Lakeman
Enid Lakeman, OBE was a British political reformer, writer and politician, noted for her long-standing championship of the Single Transferable Vote system of elections....
noted the same effect in UK local elections, where significant numbers of voters invited to X (say) three candidates for three council seats would simply X the three highest on the ballot-paper, even if they belonged to different parties.
However, since most non-preferential elections require the voter to mark only one single candidate, or one single party list, it becomes impossible to speculate how many votes for the first candidate or party on the ballot are genuine supporters and how many simply "donkey-voted".
Furthermore, in societies where voting is not compulsory, it seems counter-intuitive that many who attend the polls would be apathetic. However, there may be countervailing factors that produce a "donkey vote" even with voluntary turnout. In many US elections, a voter may well be intensely interested in (e.g.) the Presidential contest but not in other, less prominent races on the same "long ballot".
In Ireland, where voting is preferential but not compulsory, the donkey vote has its greatest effect not between parties but within them. With an alphabetical list of candidates, and several candidates from each major party for the 3 to 5 seats per district, the proportion of Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
deputies with surnames A to M is typically much higher than 50%, whereas it is only about half the population (according to the Irish telephone directory). (See, eg, B Walsh and C Robson, Alphabetical Voting: A Study of the 1973 General Election in the Republic of Ireland, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), General Research Series No #71, Dublin, January 1973). In O’Reilly v Minister for Environment [1986] IR 143, the Irish High Court upheld the constitutional validity of alphabetical listing against an equality-rights challenge, noting that despite its faults, A to Z does have the advantage of making it easy to find candidates on the ballot-paper.
Moreover, in some elections (e.g. Germany and some US States), the order of parties on the ballot is descending order of their support at the previous election (with new parties being placed lowest in random order). A system like this makes high ballot position both a cause and an effect of high electoral support.
The Australian House of Representatives
Preferential voting for a single seat is used in elections for the Federal House of Representatives (since 1918), for all mainland State lower houses, and for the Northern Territory's Legislative Assembly. It was also used for the Legislative Councils (State upper houses) of Western Australia until 1986, and of Victoria until 2006. It is still used for the Tasmanian Legislative Council. A variant was used for the South Australian State Upper House before 1973, with two seats per "province" (electoral district) being filled at each election, but by majority-preferential voting, not by proportional representation.The donkey vote became established with the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924. As some voters came out to vote only to avoid a fine, some sought to vote in this manner because of apathy.
An example of a hypothetical donkey vote cast at the 2004 Australian House of Representatives might be.
Division of Gwydir
Division of Gwydir
The Division of Gwydir was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
- Anderson, JohnJohn Anderson (Australian politician)John Duncan Anderson AO is a former Australian politician. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the rural-based National Party of Australia from July 1999 to July 2005.-Early years:...
National Party of AustraliaNational Party of AustraliaThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is... - Sims, Glenn Richard Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
- Anderson, Michael John The GreensAustralian GreensThe Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
- Stringer, Richard Citizens Electoral CouncilCitizens Electoral CouncilThe Citizens Electoral Council of Australia is a minor nationalist political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement, led by American political activist and conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche. It reported having 549 members in 2007...
- Rogers, Colin One Nation PartyOne Nation PartyOne Nation is a far-right and nationalist political party in Australia. It gained 22% of the vote translating to 11 of 89 seats in Queensland's unicameral legislative assembly at the 1998 state election and made major inroads into the vote of the existing parties...
- Haigh, Bruce Independent
This is likely to be a donkey vote because the National Party would have issued a how-to-vote card suggesting that voters place the Labor candidate second last behind the One Nation candidate. It is also unlikely that a National Party voter would give second and third preference to Labor and the Greens.
On the other hand, in some electorates, it is possible to cast a donkey vote consistent with ideological preference or party instruction. For example, in the 2004 election in the Division of Grayndler
Division of Grayndler
The Division of Grayndler is an Australian Electoral Division in inner Metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales. It is one of Australia's smallest electorates, located in the inner-southern Sydney metropolitan area, including parts of the inner-west...
, it would be possible for a donkey voter to cast this vote:
Division of Grayndler
- Myers, Philip The GreensAustralian GreensThe Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
- Johnson, Sue Socialist AllianceSocialist Alliance (Australia)The Socialist Alliance was founded in 2001 as an alliance of socialist organisations and individuals in Australia, initiated by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and the International Socialist Organisation along with 6 other founding socialist organisations, to create greater left unity in the...
- Harrison, Jen The Australian DemocratsAustralian DemocratsThe Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
- Albanese, AnthonyAnthony AlbaneseAnthony Norman Albanese , Australian politician, who serves as Leader of the House of Representatives and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in the Gillard Ministry...
Australian Labor Party - Kokkolis, Stephanie Liberal PartyLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Such a vote would be consistent with ideological inclination, and were in fact the instructions on the Green how-to-vote card.
The donkey vote has been estimated at between 1 and 2% of the vote, which could be critical in a marginal seat. In 1984, reforms were made to Federal electoral legislation to reduce the impact of donkey voting including:
- listing of party names besides each candidate (as for the example above for the Divisions of Gwydir and Grayndler);
- drawing of order on the ballot paper by lot by the Australian Electoral CommissionAustralian Electoral CommissionThe Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...
returning officer after the close of nominations and the commencement of pre-poll voting - candidates were previously listed by alphabetical order leading to parties nominating candidates with names beginning with A.
These reforms as well as an increase in electoral education funding have reduced the impact of donkey voting in Federal elections in recent years. As states have introduced similar reforms, the phenomenon has also been reduced in other jurisdictions. However, the phenomenon of donkey voting still needs to be taken into account when assessing the size of the swing or two-party vote in particular electorates.
2005 Werriwa By-Election
The by-election for the Federal electorate of WerriwaDivision of Werriwa
The Division of Werriwa is a Federal Electoral Division for the Australian House of Representatives.The name Werriwa derives from a local Aboriginal name for Lake George, which was located in the division when it was established in 1900. The division was one of the original 75 divisions first...
was held on 19 March 2005, following the resignation of Federal Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
leader Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
, provides a good example for understanding the nature of donkey voting.
At this by-election, 16 candidates were nominated. This large number of candidates led to an increased incentive to cast a donkey vote. Every candidate who issued how-to-votes used some variation of the donkey vote when instructing their voters how to preference, presumably to simplify the task of voting, made onerous by needing to vote for 16 candidates, many with no public profile. Candidates generally allocated their first few preferences and last few preferences to candidates according to their wishes, then numbered the rest of the boxes from top to bottom or bottom to top. For example, The Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
advocated the following preferences:
- 15 Woodger, Janey (Australians Against Further Immigration)
- 1 Raue, Ben (The GreensAustralian GreensThe Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
) - 14 Young, James (IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - 13 Lees, Mal (IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - 3 Hayes, ChrisChris Hayes (politician)Christopher Patrick "Chris" Hayes , Australian Labor Party politician, was elected to the Australian House of Representatives on 19 March 2005 in a by-election for the Division of Werriwa, New South Wales, succeeding former party leader Mark Latham.Hayes was educated at De La Salle College,...
(Australian Labor Party) - 12 Vogler, Robert (IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - 11 Tan, Greg (Christian Democratic PartyChristian Democratic Party (Australia)The Christian Democratic Party is a right-wing political party in Australia. Its leader is Fred Nile, a Congregational Church minister and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.-Formation:...
) - 10 Bryant, Joe (IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - 16 Doggett, Charles (One NationOne Nation PartyOne Nation is a far-right and nationalist political party in Australia. It gained 22% of the vote translating to 11 of 89 seats in Queensland's unicameral legislative assembly at the 1998 state election and made major inroads into the vote of the existing parties...
) - 9 Head, Mike
- 8 Sykes, Mick (Family FirstFamily First PartyThe Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
) - 7 Bargshoon, Sam (IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - 2 McGookin, Pat (Progressive Labour Party)
- 6 Locke, Deborah
- 5 Aussie-Stone, Marc (IndependentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
) - 4 Mannoun, Ned
In this case, the how-to-vote card advocates a first preference for the Greens, a second preference for the PLP, a third preference for Labor and a last preference for One Nation. Apart from these preferences, the card advocates a reverse Donkey Vote.
The donkey vote was also reflected in the high vote (4.83%) for Australians Against Further Immigration, who would normally gain far fewer votes, but were placed first on the ballot.
The Senate
The Senate also had a preferential system between 1919 and 1949. Voters had to select (with X-es) three Senate candidates from a large list of candidates listed alphabetically, rather than grouped by party or randomly. As a result, there was a high donkey vote with the system favouring candidates with names starting with A or B. The most famous example was in the NSW Senate election in 1937 where Labor's ticket featured four candidates named Amour, Ashley, ArmstrongJohn Armstrong (Australian politician)
John Ignatius Armstrong, AC was an Australian politician and federal minister.Armstrong was born in the Sydney suburb of Ultimo and ducated at St Bede's School, Pyrmont, and Marist Brothers' High School, Darlinghurst...
and Arthur - all of the "Four A's" were duly elected.
"These days, the order of candidates on the voting form is determined by a draw from a hat. Back then, the Electoral Commission [scil. Electoral Office, pre-1984] simply followed the alphabet. This led to many interesting battles of tactics between the Comms (Communist Party of AustraliaCommunist Party of AustraliaThe Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
) and their arch-rivals the DLP (Democratic Labor PartyDemocratic Labor PartyThe Democratic Labor Party is a political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism and opposes neo-liberalism. The first "DLP" Senator in decades, party vice-president John Madigan was elected to the Australian Senate with 2.3 percent of the primary vote in Victoria at the 2010 federal...
), who were also keen to get their people at the head of the ticket. The Comms usually won, thanks to their recruitment of numerous members of the Aarons family: short of re-christening their own candidates something like Aardvark, there wasn’t much the DLP could do about it.... Those crucial ballots [in the QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
electoral district of MoretonDivision of MoretonThe Division of Moreton is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named after Moreton Bay. The electorate is a bellwether in elections, having voted for the party winning government at every...
, in the extremely close 1961 House of RepresentativesAustralian House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
election] turned out to have cast not by Communists but by donkeys, and as [Liberal candidate James] KillenJames KillenSir Denis James "Jim" Killen, AC, KCMG , was an Australian politician.-Education and early career:Killen was born in Dalby, Queensland and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated in law...
’s name preceded that of the now-forgotten Labor candidate in the alphabet, they flowed largely to the Libs.”
- Mungo MacCallumMungo Wentworth MacCallumMungo Wentworth MacCallum is an Australian political journalist and commentator.He is the son of Mungo Ballardie MacCallum , and Diana Wentworth a great granddaughter of the Australian explorer and politician William Charles Wentworth...
, Mungo: The Man Who Laughs (Sydney: Duffy and Snellgrove, 2001), pp 64-65.
The Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
Government introduced proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
for the Senate in 1949. Candidates were listed alphabetically in party order and the position of the parties candidates on the ballot paper was determined by lot after the close of nominations.
In large states such as NSW or Victoria, there might be over 100 candidates on the ballot paper with requirements for voters to list each candidate in order of preference. Consequently, there was a high proportion of informal votes and donkey votes cast in Senate elections.
As a result, electoral reforms were introduced in 1984 allowing voters to vote 1 above the line for the party of their choice and the preferences to be distributed according to a ticket lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission prior to the commencement of voting. This reform has greatly reduced the incidence of donkey voting and informal voting in Australian Senate elections.
However, this system has led to a great increase of horse trading by parties in the development of the distribution of preferences as it makes the difference in deciding who fills the final few positions in the Senate representing that state. For example, the election of Steve Fielding
Steve Fielding
Steven "Steve" Fielding , was a Senator representing the state of Victoria and the federal parliamentary leader of the Family First Party in Australia. Elected to the Senate at the 2004 federal election on two percent of the Victorian vote, he failed to gain re-election at the 2010 federal election...
of the Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
in the Victorian Senate election with a party vote of 1.88% is an example of the results of horse-trading associated with this process. States which use proportional representation to elect their upper houses such as NSW use a similar system to the Senate.
Hare-Clark elections
Two Australian jurisdictions use the Hare-ClarkSingle transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
proportional representation system to elect their lower houses: namely, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (unicameral system). Tasmania has used Hare-Clark since 1907, and the ACT since 1995. Candidates used to be listed in alphabetical order within a party list leading to a donkey vote effect. For their ballots to be valid, voters need only number as many candidates as there are vacancies to be filled, although they are free to number all the candidates if they wish.
However, it was observed that often a candidate whose name appeared below the name of a popular candidate (such as a State party leader) would be elected on the leader's second preferences. As popular leaders such as Robin Gray
Robin Gray (Australian politician)
Robin Trevor Gray is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Tasmania from 1982 to 1989. A Liberal, he was elected Liberal state leader in 1981 and in 1982 defeated the Labor government of Harry Holgate on a policy of "state development," particularly the building of the Franklin Dam, a...
, Kate Carnell
Kate Carnell
Anne Katherine Carnell AO was the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving from 1995 to 2000. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Food and Grocery Council.-Pharmacy career:...
or Jon Stanhope
Jon Stanhope
Jonathan Ronald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May 2011 and as...
have achieved several quotas of first-preference votes in their own right at the height of their popularity, the impact of this position can lead to candidates being elected on the leaders' "coat-tails". A similar phenomenon has been observed in Ireland and Malta, which also use STV (with candidates ranked alphabetically).
In 1979, Neil Robson, a Liberal member for Bass
Division of Bass
The Division of Bass is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass. It has always been based on the city of Launceston and surrounding rural areas, and its boundaries have changed very little in the century since its...
in the Tasmanian parliament, introduced the system known as Robson Rotation
Robson Rotation
Robson Rotation is the method of printing multiple ballots for single transferable vote elections, with each having the candidates listed in a different order....
. Under this system, each ballot paper contains a different permutation of candidates so each candidate has a certain proportion of times at every position in their party's column, therefore equally dispersing the donkey votes and nullifying their impact on the result.