Federal Election 2022: Why one in 20 votes won’t count

In some electorates, as many as one in every eight ballots was disregarded in the 2019 election. Here’s how to make sure your vote counts.

More than 650,000 votes have already been cast in the federal election, but about one in 20 may never be counted.

Last election, 5.5 per cent of ballots were deemed “informal” by the Australian Electoral Commission, meaning the voter did not properly complete their form – deliberately or otherwise.

They may have handed in a blank ballot; added a tick or cross rather than numbers; put a 1 against their top preference but left the remaining boxes empty; drawn pictures; written profanities or added their own joke candidates.

In some divisions, the informal vote is as common as one in every 8 ballots.

>> FEDERAL ELECTION 2022: Follow the first days of pre-polling in our live blog

Political commentator and Griffith University associate professor Paul Williams said it was unclear if this election would see a surge in informal votes, but it was possible as both major parties were “uninspiring”.

“Neither of the two leaders is grabbing voters’ attention – they are both middle aged white blokes so not much diversity there and it’s been a policy-light campaign focused on personality,” he said.

Cast your vote on or before 21 May.

But Mr Williams said most informal votes were unintentional from people who did not know how to fill out their ballot.

“Research shows a broad correlation between levels of education and informal voting,” he said.

“For example, Western Sydney has a high level of informal votes.

“Conversely, the ACT has the lowest level of informal voting.

“You also see the trend with people from non-English-speaking backgrounds who might be confused by the instructions.“

Griffith University associate professor Dr Paul Williams

There was also a large portion of informal ballots with a single box marked with a 1 in states where the state elections allowed voters to “vote 1” for their preferred candidates and leave the rest of the ballot blank, according to Mr Williams.

This was also seen among voters who previously lived overseas as many other countries have a “first past the post” race that does not require second and third preference votes.

Where votes are most likely to be burned
(electorates with highest portion of informal votes in 2019)

Blaxland (NSW) 13.3%

Fowler (NSW) 13.11%

Watson (NSW) 12.61%

McMahon (NSW) 12.08%

Werriwa (NSW) 11.57%

Mallee (VIC) 11.16%

Lindsay (NSW) 11.08%

Chifley (NSW) 9.66%

Barton (NSW) 9.53%

Calwell (VIC) 9.22%

Farrer (NSW) 9.13%

Lyne (NSW) 9.07%

Hunter (NSW) 8.97%

Macarthur (NSW) 8.85%

Parramatta (NSW) 8.37%

Hinkler (QLD) 7.82%

Cowper (NSW) 7.78%

Rankin (QLD) 7.73%

Blair (QLD) 7.49%

Nicholls (VIC) 7.46%

Richmond (NSW) 7.44%

Whitlam (NSW) 7.25%

Robertson (NSW) 7.24%

Banks (NSW) 7.2%

Braddon (TAS) 7.08%

Where votes are least likely to be burned
(electorates with lowest portion of informal votes in 2019)

Higgins (VIC) 2.01%

Canberra (ACT) 2.16%

Goldstein (VIC) 2.21%

Griffith (QLD) 2.26%

Ryan (QLD) 2.4%

Clark (TAS) 2.44%

Brisbane (QLD) 2.52%

Maribyrnong (VIC) 2.9%

Bonner (QLD) 2.93%

Kooyong (VIC) 2.97%

Fenner (ACT) 2.99%

Wentworth (NSW) 2.99%

Moreton (QLD) 3%

Melbourne (VIC) 3.02%

Mayo (SA) 3.05%

Jagajaga (VIC) 3.14%

Franklin (TAS) 3.15%

Curtin (WA) 3.18%

Groom (QLD) 3.2%

Menzies (VIC) 3.32%

Bowman (QLD) 3.4%

Lilley (QLD) 3.48%

Gellibrand (VIC) 3.51%

Corio (VIC) 3.56%

Petrie (QLD) 3.62%

SOURCE: AEC

Originally published as Federal Election 2022: Why one in 20 votes won’t count