The race for the Whitsunday Mayorship continues to heat up ahead of the August 13 election date; electioneering is in full swing with candidates canvassing across the region.
Early voting began on Monday this week (August 1), and a divide in opinion is playing out between the six candidates – one that may have a tactical tilt to it.
Candidate Mike Brunker has been the most outspoken of the six candidates on his choice to not hand out How-To-Vote Cards – but why?
Mr Brunker says he’s doing it “out of respect for voters intelligence” and that they have to “only vote 1” for him, should he be their mayoral candidate of choice.
Other candidates - Jan Clifford, Phil Batty, Peter J Hood, and Julie Hall – have opted for their own How-To-Vote Cards, each of which lists Mr Brunker as their sixth preference.
Candidate Al Grundy has chosen not to allocate preferences, instead telling voters it’s “their choice”.
This is where the confusion lies for voters: unlike the recent Federal Election, which was full preferential, the Whitsunday Mayoral by-election is optional preferential.
Electors can choose to “vote for one, vote for some, or vote for all” candidates on the ballot paper on election day.
The way this is done is by denoting your first-choice candidate, second choice, third, and so on. Or, by simply selecting a single choice and voting one – the beauty of the ‘optional’ in optional preferential voting.
So, why have some candidates listed preferences on their How-To-Vote cards while others have not? It could be what are known as “preference deals” between the political candidates.
When voting is counted, polling officers will begin by tallying all first preference votes – those numbered 1 on all ballot cards.
Once those are tallied, and there is no clear winner (a candidate must receive more than 50 per cent of the vote) the candidate with the fewest votes will be excluded.
If you voted first for that candidate, your ballot paper will be re-examined and your second preference will receive your vote.
Here is where preference deals come into play: if candidate A numbers candidate B second on their How-To-Vote card and vice versa, it affectively gives the pair of them more chance of taking the mayoral office.
This is where Mr Brunker’s claim that candidates Hood, Clifford, and Hall are swapping preferences (a preference deal) and “working as a team” are born from.
If they are, are they gaming the system? No. Preference deals have long been an accepted part of Australian politics – namely for one reason: electors do not have to follow How-To-Vote cards to a tee.
On election day, or beforehand if you are early voting, your vote is your own. Candidates can vote 1 for their preferred choice or vote for all six – it is an individual choice.
The only preferences that count are the numbers written on ballot papers by voters themselves. All candidates can do is try to influence what voters write.
The Whitsunday Mayoral By-Election Day is August 13. More information can be found here: https://bit.ly/3OKXyKc on the Electoral Commission Queensland Website.
The Whitsunday Mayoral by-election is fast approaching, but residents have been confused by optional preferential voting – so what is it?
