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Informal Voting in the Senate
A Senate ballot paper is informal if:
- it is unmarked
- it has not received the official mark of the presiding officer and is not considered authentic
- it has writing on it which identifies the voter
- the voter's intention is not clear
A vote above the line is informal if:
- it has no first preference mark
- if there is more than one first preference mark
A vote below the line is informal if:
- it has no first preference mark
- a tick or cross has been used as a first preference mark
- there is more than one first preference mark
- less than 90% of the boxes have been numbered
- there are more than 3 acceptable errors
- there are 10 or more candidates and less than 90% of the boxes have been numbered or there are more than 3 numbering errors
- there are less than 10 candidates and more than one box has been left blank or there are more than 2 numbering errors
| Informal Voting (%) in Senate Elections |
|---|
| 2001 | 1998 | 1996 | 1993 | 1990 | 1987 | 1984 | 1983 |
| New South Wales |
3.5 |
3.3 |
3.8 |
2.7 |
4.2 |
4.9 |
5.2 |
11.1 |
| Victoria |
5.6 |
3.8 |
3.6 |
3.1 |
3.6 |
4.0 |
3.7 |
10.7 |
| Queensland |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.3 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
3.1 |
2.7 |
8.6 |
| Western Australia |
3.6 |
2.7 |
3.5 |
2.1 |
2.9 |
3.3 |
4.2 |
8.1 |
| South Australia |
3.1 |
2.8 |
3.3 |
2.3 |
2.5 |
3.8 |
5.0 |
8.8 |
| Tasmania |
3.3 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
2.6 |
3.1 |
3.8 |
5.7 |
7.4 |
| Australian Capital Territory |
2.3 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
1.6 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
3.1 |
3.3 |
| Northern Territory |
2.8 |
2.0 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
3.7 |
2.8 |
4.7 |
| AUSTRALIA |
3.9 |
3.2 |
3.5 |
2.6 |
3.4 |
4.1 |
4.3 |
9.9 |
Source: Australian Electoral Commission publications
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