In the Australian electoral system, a donkey vote refers to the practice of numbering the boxes on ballot papers sequentially from top to bottom. 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 disinterested or ignorant voters. As voting is compulsory in Australia, "donkey votes" are an important measure of protest or apathy.
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.
House of Representatives
Preferential voting is used in House of Representatives elections and in elections for most Australian lower house elections. This system was introduced in 1918 for Federal elections and has been used since then for the House of Representatives.
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
-
Anderson, John National Party of Australia
- Sims, Glenn Richard Australian Labor Party
- Anderson, Michael John The Greens
- Stringer, Richard Citizens Electoral Council
- Rogers, Colin One Nation Party
- 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, it would be possible for a donkey voter to cast this vote:
Division of Grayndler
- Myers, Philip The Greens
- Johnson, Sue Socialist Alliance
- Harrison, Jen The Australian Democrats
-
Albanese, Anthony Australian Labor Party
- Kokkolis, Stephanie Liberal Party
Such a vote would be consistent both with ideological inclination and probably with the instructions of 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 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 is assessing the size of the swing or two-party vote in particular electorates.
The Senate
The Senate also had a preferential system between 1919 and 1949. Voters had to elect five senators from a large list of candidates listed alphabetically rather than in order of 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 Armour, Ashley, Armstrong 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.
Hare-Clark elections
Two Australian jurisdictions use the Hare-Clark proportional representation system to elect their lower houses: namely, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (unicameral system). Tasmania has had Hare-Clark in place since 1907. Candidates used to be listed in alphabetical order within a party list leading to a donkey vote effect. Voters have to cast as many votes as there are vacancies to be filled.
Alternatively, candidates whose name appeared below the name of a popular candidate such as a State party leader would often be elected on their preferences. As popular leaders such as Robin Gray, Kate Carnell or Jon Stanhope have achieved several quotas in their own right at the height of their popularity, the impact of this position can lead to candidates being elected.
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 on their party list, therefore eliminating the impact of the donkey vote.
References
Last updated: 05-27-2005 05:31:35
