Preferential voting — the lower house
Every lower house seat in Victoria is decided by full preferential voting. This is also called "instant run-off" voting. It's not first-past-the-post — the candidate with the most "1"s doesn't automatically win.
The rule
A candidate wins when they have more than 50% of the vote. If no one has more than 50% on first preferences, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their voters' next preferences are distributed. This repeats until someone passes 50%.
A worked example
Imagine the district of Carlton has four candidates and 10,000 formal votes. Here's a plausible ballot:
This voter wants Bob first, Dinesh second, Alice third, Carla last. Every box is numbered, so the vote is formal.
Count 1 — first preferences
| Candidate | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Alice (Labor) | 3,800 | 38% |
| Bob (Greens) | 3,200 | 32% |
| Carla (Liberal) | 2,500 | 25% |
| Dinesh (Independent) | 500 | 5% |
Alice is in front but nobody has 50%+. Dinesh is last, so he's eliminated.
Count 2 — Dinesh's preferences flow
Every ballot that had Dinesh as "1" is now re-counted using the "2" on that ballot. Say they split 300 → Bob, 150 → Alice, 50 → Carla.
| Candidate | New total |
|---|---|
| Alice | 3,950 |
| Bob | 3,500 |
| Carla | 2,550 |
Still no 50%+. Carla is now last — eliminated.
Count 3 — Carla's preferences flow
Each of Carla's 2,550 ballots goes to whoever that voter put next (skipping Dinesh, already eliminated). Say they split 1,800 → Alice, 750 → Bob.
| Candidate | Final | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Alice (Labor) | 5,750 | 57.5% |
| Bob (Greens) | 4,250 | 42.5% |
Alice wins — she's over 50% in the final two-candidate-preferred count.
Key implications
- Your "1" never gets wasted. If your first choice is eliminated, your vote simply flows to your next choice.
- A candidate can come second (or even third) on primary votes and still win, if enough preferences flow their way.
- How-to-vote cards suggest a preference order — but you decide, every box.
What's a "two-party-preferred" number?
On election night, commentators talk about "two-party-preferred" (TPP or 2PP). It's the final-round tally between the two candidates most likely to win — usually Labor vs the Coalition. In the example above, Alice beat Bob 57.5% to 42.5% TPP.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving a box blank. Your ballot is informal and doesn't count.
- Writing the same number twice. Same problem — informal.
- A "donkey vote" — numbering 1,2,3,… straight down the paper. It's a formal vote but may not reflect your actual preferences, since candidate order on the paper is random.
→ Next: how the upper house works (proportional representation)