Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 12 Hansard (6 December) . . Page.. 3768 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The way to undermine that system is to allow parties to start to tell people the predetermined order of candidates on the ballot paper. Ms Tucker has told us that this is not meant to be compulsory; that it is not meant to be a requirement that voters have to follow in all cases. That is true. On the information contained in the bill, there is nothing that will force voters, or even lead voters to feel that they have an obligation, to fill out their ballot papers in a particular way.

Some voters will not understand what the process is all about and will make mistakes in that process. It has been put forward that the kind of form that was used for the Legislative Council in New South might appear on the sides of polling places in the ACT. I would not blame any citizen for being confused by looking at that information. It is rather intimidating.

Let us assume that the majority of voters ignore the advice of a party to vote for candidates in a particular order, but one - fifth of the voters for that party feel that they ought to follow the predetermined how - to - vote card the party has put in the polling place. That will very likely tip the election in favour of at least of the No 1 candidate of the party on the how - to - vote card in the polling place. If there is a new party whose candidates are not particularly well known, in theory all the candidates will have equal chances. How much hard work they have done to get elected will determine whether they will climb over their colleagues to win a spot in the Assembly.

With a how - to - vote card sitting in front of the voter as they fill in their ballot paper you have a set of proposals likely to influence voters - a small number of voters perhaps but enough to tip the balance in favour of the lead candidate on the how - to - vote card. That undermines the Hare - Clark system. It fundamentally misunderstands the Hare - Clark system, and it is unnecessary in the Hare - Clark system. It is simple to vote under Hare - Clark. The number of informal votes in recent elections has been quite small - in fact, by national standards, very small. There is no need to put up on the walls in a polling place advice about how to cast a valid vote to achieve a high level of formal voting in the ACT. I confidently guarantee that if we have forms like this in our polling places we will end up with more confusion and more informal votes.

It is important that we not compromise the integrity of our system. It is a good system. It has served the ACT well. It has been effective in delivering balanced Assemblies - Assemblies where the electors' choice, for the most part, has been reflected - and it is regarded well by the citizens it serves. To take this step would be counterproductive, and it would be a serious concern.

I have received advice about a number of potential problems with the bill. I want to put those on the record. The first is that the order of candidates in the folder, on the wall, on the ballot paper or wherever it might be will favour one candidate over another. Voters who choose to use the folders will be influenced by the order in which candidates are presented. I have mentioned already that the candidate first on the how - to - vote card will obviously have an advantage over candidates lower down.

Another concern is that it reduces the environmental benefit of the current ban. One of the important benefits of the original proposal is that we do not have how - to - vote cards in ACT polling places. Any environmental benefit resulting from the current ban on distributing how - to - vote material would be outweighed by the proposed requirements to

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .