Bills

Electoral (Legislative Council Voting) (Voter Choice) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (16:00): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Electoral Act 1985. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (16:01): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Electoral (Legislative Council Voting)(Voter Choice) Amendment Bill 2016 proposes to change the voting system used for Legislative Council elections and implement what is to be known as the 'voter choice' method of voting. Voter choice is a variant on the current system of voting used for Legislative Council elections. Voter choice would essentially work as follows: there would no longer be voting tickets in Legislative Council elections.

As is currently the case, voters would be able to vote '1' above the line for the party or group of their choice. This would be known as a 'group vote'. Unlike the current system, where the vote above the line is interpreted in accordance with the voting ticket lodged by the particular party or group, a group vote would be a vote for each of the candidates in that party or group in the order nominated by that party or group.

Below the line voting, or an individual vote, would be largely unchanged, although there is provision relating to the interpretation of ballot papers so that where a person just votes '1' for the lead candidate of a party or group below the line that would be interpreted as a vote for the party or group above the line. In other respects, the voting system for Legislative Council elections would remain largely unchanged. The methods of calculating the quota and transferring surplus votes remain the same.

The voter choice method of voting would limit the potential for parties to secure Legislative Council seats through preference harvesting. The proposal is intended to make it easier for people to understand the implications of their vote and to have control over their vote and preferences. Voters who cast a group vote above the line will be casting a vote for the members of that group or party and not for all candidates in the election in the order of the group's voting ticket, as is currently the case. Voters who cast an individual vote below the line will continue to be required to indicate a preference for all candidates.

I seek leave to insert the remainder of the second reading explanation in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Turning now to the details of the Bill, the Bill makes amendments to the interpretation section of the Electoral Act 1985 ('Electoral Act'). These include amendments to remove the definition of 'voting ticket square', amend the definition of 'voting ticket' so that it only applies to House of Assembly elections, and introduce the term 'group voting square'. The definition of 'group' is also moved from Part 13A of the Electoral Act into section 4(1) of the Electoral Act.

The Bill amends section 58 of the Electoral Act so that when Legislative Council candidates apply to be grouped together on the ballot paper, they may also request that a group voting square be printed on the ballot paper in respect of their group. Where such a request is made, a group voting square must be printed on the ballot paper. The Bill also amends section 59 to require that the names of candidates within a group must be printed on the ballot paper in the same order as they appear in the section 58 application.

In practice, the appearance of ballot papers will be largely unchanged. Group voting squares will replace the current voting ticket squares for what is commonly referred to as above the line voting. Candidates' names will be listed on the ballot paper below the line, and in the order in which they appear in the section 58 application (if any).

Currently, section 63 of the Electoral Act deals with voting tickets in both Legislative Council and House of Assembly elections. The Bill repeals section 63 and inserts new section 60A, which is in similar terms to section 63 but applies only in relation to House of Assembly elections. Consequential amendments are made to a number of sections in the Electoral Act to change references from section 63 to section 60A.

The Bill also amends section 66 of the Electoral Act to reflect the fact that there will no longer be voting tickets in Legislative Council elections.

Changes are made to the method of voting in section 76 to allow a voter to vote by marking a '1' in the group voting square that relates to the group that the voter prefers. That vote will be interpreted so that it is a vote for each of the candidates in that group, in the order nominated by the group under section 58. So, if there are 6 candidates in a group, a vote for the group will be a vote from 1 to 6 for each member of that group in the order nominated by the group.

The Bill makes amendments to the formality provisions in sections 92 and 94 to reflect the proposed new system of voting. In particular, section 92 provides that where a person just votes '1' below the line for the first candidate included in a group, that would be interpreted as an above the line vote for that candidate's group.

The Bill also contains changes to the scrutiny provisions to accommodate for the fact that above the line voting only provides a vote to a single party or group.

I commend the Bill to Members.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Electoral Act 1985

4—Amendment of section 4—Interpretation

This clause makes consequential changes to definitions and inserts a definition of group voting square.

5—Amendment of section 53—Multiple nominations of candidates endorsed by political party

This clause makes an amendment to section 53 to reflect the fact that, under the measure, voting tickets would only be lodged in relation to House of Assembly elections.

6—Amendment of section 58—Grouping of candidates in Legislative Council election

This clause allows an application for the grouping of names on a Legislative Council election ballot paper to also request a group voting square for the group.

7—Amendment of section 59—Printing of Legislative Council ballot papers

This clause requires that a Legislative Council election ballot paper be printed such that the order of names of candidates within a group will be the order specified in the group's application under section 58.

8—Insertion of section 60A

This clause is consequential. Section 63 of the Act is repealed by clause 9 of the measure and relocated in the subdivision dealing with House of Assembly elections (because voting tickets would no longer be relevant in relation to Legislative Council elections under the measure). The wording of the provision has been altered to reflect the fact that it now applies only to House of Assembly elections.

9—Repeal of section 63

This clause repeals section 63 (see clause 8).

10—Amendment of section 66—Preparation of certain electoral material

This clause makes consequential amendments to reflect the fact that voting tickets would no longer be relevant in relation to Legislative Council elections under the measure.

11—Amendment of section 76—Method of voting at elections

This amendment replaces the reference to voting ticket squares on a Legislative Council ballot paper with a reference to group voting squares.

12—Amendment of section 92—Interpretation of ballot papers in Legislative Council elections

This clause amends section 92 to set out the manner in which Legislative Council ballot papers may be interpreted. Generally a voter would be required to mark a Legislative Council ballot paper by either placing a 1 in a group voting square (which is then interpreted as a vote for the members of that group in the order in which they appear on the ballot paper) or by numbering all the squares for individual candidates below the line. The provision, however, provides rules for interpreting ballot papers that have been marked in a manner that does not comply with these general requirements.

13—Amendment of section 94—Informal ballot papers

This clause makes consequential amendments in relation to informal ballot papers.

14—Amendment of section 95—Scrutiny of votes in Legislative Council election

This clause amends section 95 to reflect the change from voting ticket squares to group voting squares and make other consequential amendments to the scrutiny provisions.

15—Amendment of section 130A—Interpretation

A definition of group is deleted as this definition is now to be located in section 4 of the Act.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Treloar.