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Voting
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Inside the Legislative Council.
By Sakeasi Ano & Heavila
VOTING
IN
THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
New South Wales Legislative Council (Upper House) has 42
members who represent the whole of NSW in Parliament. At each
general election, 21 members (half of all the members) are elected for
two
terms of Parliament, a maximum period of eight years. The Legislative
Council Election is a State-wide vote.
The method of voting for the Legislative Council is known as optional
preferential proportional representation. The name of each candidates
political affiliation is shown on the ballot paper. A group must
compromise at least fifteen candidates before it can have a group
voting square on the ballot paper. Candidates not included in a group
or 'ungrouped candidates' are listed in a column on the extreme right
of ballot paper. The ballot paper is the same for every person in NSW.
VOTING
FOR THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
The Legislative Assembly has 93 members. The members of the Legislative
Assembly are elected for a term of 4 years. Each member of the
Legislative Assembly
is elected to represent an electoral district of NSW. Each
electorate has its own ballot paper with all the candidates names for
that electorate. Some candidates are members of political
parties and some are independents.
WHO CAN
VOTE IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Voting is by secret ballot and compulsory in Australia. If you are over
18 years of age you must vote. Eligible persons
are required to enrol once they have lived at their present address
for at least 1 Month. If you do not vote you will get a fine.