Victorians are required to vote for candidates in both houses of parliament, but with government formed in the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council can become an afterthought for many voters.
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Supplied - VEC
For many Victorians, mentally preparing to wrestle the metre-long white ballot into the voting booth seems to be the only time voting in the upper house crosses people’s minds before election day.
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There are lots of candidates, multiple ways to vote, and some high profile voting changes which may fundamentally alter the composition of the next Legislative Council, so here’s a guide to help cut through the confusion.
What is the Legislative Council and what does it do?
The Victorian upper house, formally known as the Legislative Council, is the Victorian Parliament’s house of review.
It consists of 40 members, with each of the state’s eight regions electing five for a four-year term.
Members can debate, amend and vote on bills already passed in the lower house. They can also introduce bills, except those which propose spending public money.
The government is formed by the party or coalition with a majority in the lower house.
It is rare for a government to hold a majority in both houses, so it often has to work with the opposition or cross-bench members to pass legislation.
Who am I voting for and how do I vote?
If you’re reading this, you most likely live in the Northern Victorian Region.
The region covers most of the north of the state, encompassing the districts of Benambra, Bendigo East, Bendigo West, Eildon, Euroa, Macedon, Mildura, Murray Plains, Ovens Valley, Shepparton, and Yan Yean.
The Northern Victoria Region.
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Supplied - Brian Lugg/VEC
It is currently represented by the Liberal’s Wendy Lovell, Labor’s Jaclyn Symes, The Nationals’ Gaelle Broad, Animal Justice’s Georgie Purcell, and One Nation’s Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell.
Ms Lovell has announced she will not seek re-election.
As of the time of publication, more than a dozen candidates have indicated their intention to run.
Above the line, where you vote for a party and your preferences are allocated to the party’s candidates in the order they appear on the ballot.
Or below the line, where you vote for individual candidates, having total control over how you want to direct your preferences.
What’s changed?
The most significant change this election is the removal of something called group voting tickets.
In previous elections, parties could submit a group voting ticket to the VEC.
If people voted above the line and chose to label only one box, the preference flow of their vote would be decided by the GVT of the party they voted for.
This led to several minor parties having candidates elected with very low first preference numbers.
A notable example is the Transport Matters Party at the 2018 election, which secured an upper house seat with just 0.6 per cent of the primary vote in the Eastern Metropolitan Region.
GVTs have now been abolished, and those wanting to vote above the line must now number at least five parties in order of preference.
If you choose to vote above the line, your preferences are still allocated in the order the party’s candidates appear on the ballot.
Voting below the line is unchanged, with people still having to number at least five candidates in order of preference.
When will we know the result?
Votes in the upper house tend to take far longer to count than those in the lower house because of the complexity of preference flows.
The winners of the fourth and fifth MLC spots may not be clear for days, if not weeks.
All results will be confirmed by the return of the writs, which will occur by December 19 at the latest.
To find out more about voting in the Legislative Council, visit https://tinyurl.com/8msfv9rw
The Victorian election will take place on November 28.
