Donkey vote, pork-barrelling: Common Australian Federal Election jargon explained

From donkey vote to democracy sausage and pork-barrelling, there are many words used during a federal election. Here, we explain what some of the common ones mean.

From donkey vote to democracy sausage and pork-barrelling, navigating a federal election can be beastly even before you’ve made it to the voting booth.

So, to help you understand some of the lingo, and the sometimes confusing paperwork that you’ll be offered on your way to the booth, we’ve compiled a list of words, phrases and their meanings below.

What is a federal election?

A federal election is when Australians vote for people to represent them in the Senate and House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament.

Federal elections are organised and run by the Australian Electoral Commission, who make sure that elections are fair and legal.

What is a double dissolution election?

A double dissolution takes place when the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister, dissolves – shuts down – both the Senate and House of Representatives for an election to take place. A double dissolution can only happen when there is a deadlock between the Senate and the House of Representatives on a bill – proposed law. A double dissolution is the only time all senators stand for election at the same time.

The Senate and House have almost identical powers and a bill must be agreed to by both to become law. If a bill is passed in the House of Representatives and does not pass twice in the Senate, Parliament can be dissolved for an election to be held to let voters decide on the outcome.

What is the Coalition?

In Australia, the long-running political alliance between the Liberal Party and the National Party is often referred to as the Coalition.

Together, they are considered one of the two major parties in federal politics, alongside Labor.

While members of the Coalition sit next to each other in parliament and generally vote the same way, the Liberals and Nationals hold separate party meetings and elect their own party leaders.

As the Liberal Party is the larger of the two, its leader serves as prime minister when the Coalition is in government and as Opposition leader when it isn’t.

What is the Opposition?

The major party, or coalition of parties in parliament which has the next highest number of votes.

What is the crossbench?

The crossbench is a term used to refer to MPs and senators who aren’t members of the elected government or the Opposition. They can be members of minor parties like the Greens, or independents.

Crossbenchers are given that name because they sit on the benches that cross the House of Representatives and Senate chambers.

Who are the Teals?

The word ‘teal’ has traditionally been used to describe a blue-green colour. But, during the 2022 federal election, it was used to describe a group of mostly female, independent candidates running in formerly safe Liberal seats on a platform of stronger climate action and greater integrity in politics.

They were labelled ‘teals’ because many candidates used the colour in their campaign branding.

What is an incumbent?

Outside an election, the incumbent is the person who holds the position to which they were elected.

During an election, the incumbent is the person who held a political position before the election was called, regardless of whether they are a candidate seeking re-election.

Who can vote at an election?

Australian citizens who are 18 years of age or older are required to enrol as voters unless they are not eligible because, for example, they are of “an unsound mind” or serving a sentence of imprisonment of three years or more. Voting is compulsory for all people enrolled. People who do not vote may be fined.

What is a swing?

The difference between a candidate or party’s vote at one election in comparison to another. A big swing against a candidate seeking re-election generally means many voters are not happy with either their elected member, the political party they represent or both.

What is a swinging voter?

An elector who does not vote for the same political party each time there is an election. Some constituents will vote for the candidate they like better while others will vote because they represent the political party they traditionally support, even if they don’t like the candidate.

What is an opinion poll?

In the lead-up to a federal election several polling companies conduct opinion polls for various news organisations to find out what most people think about a policy, an issue and even individual candidates. They are often used by the media to report on “who’s ahead in the polls”, or who has gained or lost popularity.

What’s an election poll?

It’s a poll conducted before (or sometimes after) an election that focuses on the election and analyses how people voted, why they may have voted a particular way, the number of swinging votes and so on.

What is a pollster?

A person who conducts a poll and or analyses political data.

What is a seat?

Another term for an electorate or electoral division – used because the candidate elected becomes a Member of Parliament (MP) and, therefore, they have a seat in parliament.

What is an electoral division?

An electoral division is a geographical area of Australia represented by a Member of Parliament (MP) who is elected at a House of Representatives, or federal election. It can also be referred to as “an electorate” or “constituency” and is made up of the people (constituents) who live within the boundaries of the electoral division.

What is a safe seat?

A safe seat is where the elected candidate received more than 60 per cent of the vote at the previous election. It is considered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to be “safe”.

That means there would need to be a big swing against the incumbent member for them to lose their seat.

What is a marginal seat?

A seat is considered by the AEC to be marginal when the elected candidate received less than 56 per cent of the vote at the previous election.

When a seat is marginal, it’s at risk of being lost to another candidate.

What is a bellwether seat?

When a majority of voters elect the same member or candidate for the political party that forms government, that electorate, or seat, is referred to as a “bellwether” seat or electorate.

Pollsters can look to them to identify trends and predict the outcome of an election.

What is a blue ribbon seat?

A blue ribbon seat is the same as a bellwether seat.

What is redistribution?

A redistribution takes place when electoral boundaries are redrawn to ensure there are roughly the same numbers of voters in each seat. A redistribution will take place when there has been a change in population, for instance.

What is a Dorothy Dix question?

Ministers have no warning of the questions to be asked by opposition members and must prepare themselves as best they can.

Government members, as a courtesy, usually inform ministers of the questions they intend to ask. These pre-arranged questions are known as ‘Dorothy Dixers’.

What is Proportional Representation?

Proportional representation is a voting system, such as that used in elections for the Senate, when a number of candidates, who have received a pre-determined proportion rather than a majority of the vote after the distribution of preferences, are elected to represent the people of each state, voting as one electorate.

What is preselection?

The choice by a political party of its candidates for an election.

What are the “hustings”?

Hustings is an old English word that originates from two old Norse words meaning “house” and “thing” so, just like the phrase “keeping house” or “getting your house in order”, hustings refers to the activities new candidates and those candidates hoping to be re-elected to a seat, undertake before election day to win over voters. All candidates campaign ahead of election day by door-knocking the electorate to meet voters and understand issues that voters consider important to them and their electorate.

What is a corflute?

A corflute is a type of temporary plastic sign used in Australian election campaigns to advertise a candidate or political party.

They’re typically printed with a candidate’s photo, name, and party affiliation (if they have one).

You’ll usually see them attached to people’s fences or on poles in front yards in the lead-up to the election, and outside polling places on voting day.

What is pork-barrelling?

When governments and politicians allocate public funding and resources to projects based on their electoral interests rather than public needs or interests, it’s called pork-barrelling.

Pork-barrelling is a long-standing practice and is typically used to try to win votes in marginal seats. There are no laws specifically banning the practice in Australia, but research shows the majority of voters consider it to be a form of corruption.

What is a pre-poll?

If you cast your ballot at an early voting centre before the day of the election, it’s considered a pre-poll.

What’s a democracy sausage?

Basically, it’s a snag in a slice of bread with onion (or without) and sauce, but there’s a lot more to it.

Australian polling booths, like hardware stores, have been sizzling sausages for decades, hence the name ‘sausage sizzle’ often paired with a cake stall aimed at raising money for local community groups and schools.

In 2016, Democracy Sausage was selected as the Australian National Dictionary Centre’s word of the year and today, the Democracy Sausage has its own website which is a map of sausage and cake availability on election day.

What does voting above the line and below the line mean?

Voting above the line is one of two ways you can fill out your Senate ballot paper.

To vote above the line, you need to number at least six party or group boxes, starting with 1 for your first choice, 2 for your second choice, and so on until you reach at least 6.

When you use this method, you can’t vote for individual candidates, only political parties or groups. They are given control over the order in which your preferences are distributed among their candidates.

Your preferences will first be distributed to the candidates in the party or group of your first choice in the order they appear on your ballot paper, then to the candidates in the party or group of your second choice and so on, until they have all been distributed.

The second way you can fill out your Senate ballot paper is by voting below the line.

If you choose to use this method, you need to number at least 12 individual candidate boxes, starting with 1 for your first choice, 2 for your second choice, and so on until you reach at least 12.

Voting below the line is the only way you can preference individual candidates over others, rather than the parties deciding that order for you.

Some candidates relegated to seemingly unwinnable spots on their party’s Senate ticket have managed to get elected after running campaigns encouraging people to vote below the line.

What is a donkey vote?

A common misconception is that the term “donkey vote” refers to an informal, throwaway vote.

It’s actually a valid way of voting that simply involves numbering the candidates from top to bottom or bottom to top in the order in which they appear on the ballot paper.

For example, if four candidates are running in your electorate and you put a 1 in the box next to the first one’s name, a 2 in the second box, a 3 in the third box, and a 4 in the fourth box — you’ve done a donkey vote.

To lessen the effect of donkey votes on election results, candidates’ names are listed on ballot papers in random orders.

What is an informal vote?

If you don’t fill in your ballot paper correctly — or at all — it’s called an informal vote.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) considers a ballot paper to be informal if:

*it is blank or unmarked

*it does not indicate the voter’s first preference for 1 candidate and an order of preference for all the remaining candidates (for the House of Representatives)

*ticks or crosses have been used

*it has writing on it that identifies the voter

*a number is repeated

*the voter’s intention is not clear, or

*it has not been appropriately authenticated

If you make a mistake on your ballot paper, you can always ask staff at the polling booth for another one.

What are how to vote cards?

Given their name, it may sound like ‘how to vote cards’ are a helpful guide that simply tells you how to fill in your ballot paper correctly to ensure your vote counts.

What they actually are, are the flyers handed out at polling booths by party and campaign workers that suggest the number that voters should place next to each candidate on their ballot paper.

You’re under no obligation to follow the order listed on how to vote cards and not doing so won’t necessarily impact the likelihood of the candidate you give your first preference to being elected.

What is a hung parliament?

A hung parliament occurs when no political party or coalition of parties, like the Liberal-Nationals, secures a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.

When this happens, no party is able to pass bills in the lower house without gaining support from the crossbench or other parties, giving them the balance of power.

What is a majority government/minority government?

When either Labor or the Coalition secures an outright majority — at least 76 seats — in the House of Representatives, they can form a majority government.

This means that they don’t need the support of any other MPs or parties to pass bills in the lower house.

When an election delivers a hung parliament, Labor or the Coalition can form a minority government by securing support from enough independent or minor party MPs to give them a majority on the floor of the lower house.

What are preference deals?

Preference deals are simply the agreements political parties make about where they will put each other’s candidates on their how to vote cards.

That means that unless voters choose to follow how to vote cards when filling out their ballots, preference deals don’t have any impact on election results.

What is the primary vote?

A primary vote is the “number one” vote cast by an elector in an Australian ballot and is the the guide to level of support for a political party or candidate.

What is the two-party preferred vote?

The two-party-preferred vote is the total number of votes received by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) versus the Coalition (Liberal & National Parties) after all preferences have been distributed.

It is historically done between the two big parties because an overwhelming number of seats are won by those two groups in the House of Representatives. The calculation can, however, also be made between the ALP and Greens, ALP and Independents, Coalition and Independents or the Liberals and National, for example.

These totals are a combination of the primary votes (also known as “first preference” votes) and the preferences distributed from other candidates.

The two-party-preferred figures are the only valid way to compare electorates and the swing required for them to be won or lost. For this reason, the Australian Electoral Commission calculates the two-party-preferred result in all electorates, even those where a candidate secured an absolute majority of the primary vote.

What is the pub test?

The ‘pub test’ is a colloquial term that refers to a measure for judging public opinion on policies, proposals, decisions, and candidates.

If you hear someone saying something “doesn’t pass the pub test”, it essentially means it’s not something that the average Australian would think is a good idea.

Originally published as Donkey vote, pork-barrelling: Common Australian Federal Election jargon explained