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Vote in a state election

• Ever had to go to hospital?

• Do you study at to school or uni?
  

• Is it in the city or the country? 

• What are the major industries in your area and what training is available to help you get a job? 

• Do you know which drugs are or aren’t illegal in Victoria? 

• Ever caught a train to Ballarat?

The Victorian State Parliament makes decisions about all of these issues.

In a State election you’re voting for the people who’ll represent you in the Victorian State Parliament.

Check out our Who is my...? page or visit the Parliament of Victoria website (new window) to get a list of the current members of the Victorian State Parliament.

State elections are held every fourth year on the last Saturday in November. The elections are independently conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). The next State election will be held on Saturday, 27 November 2010.

Victoria is divided into 88 Legislative Assembly (Lower House) districts.  At each State election you vote for one person to represent your district in the Legislative Assembly. Elected candidates serve for a term of four years.

Victoria is also divided into eight Legislative Council (Upper House) regions.  At each State election you vote for five people to represent your region in the Legislative Council for a term of four years.

For more information about the Victorian State Parliament see the education section (new window) of the Parliament website.  You can also find out who is in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council on this site.

Where do I vote?

Most people vote at voting centres on election day. About a week before election day you will get an EasyVote card in the mail.  This tells you where your nearest voting centre is. If you don't get on of these cards then you may not be enrolled to vote.

If you can't get to the voting centre on election day there are other ways you can vote.

How do I vote in a State election?

When you walk into the voting centre your name is crossed off the electoral roll and you are given two ballot papers. For the Legislative Assembly (Lower House), place a 1 in the box next to your preferred candidate, and then number all of the remaining boxes in the order of your preference.

For the Legislative Council (Upper House), you can vote above or below the black line.

If you vote above the line, place a 1 in the box above the party or group you want to support. Your preferences will be decided by the party or group for you.

If you vote below the black line, you must place a 1 in the box next to your preferred candidate and then number at least four other boxes in the order of your preference (i.e. 2, 3, 4 and 5). You may also number as many more boxes below the line as you wish in the order of your preference. This is different to voting below the black line in a Federal election. In a Federal election you must number every box below the line or your vote won't be counted. In a State election you only need to number the boxes up to '5'.

 

 

 

 

Votes for the Legislative Assembly (Lower House) are counted using the full preferential system (new window).

Votes for the Legislative Council (Upper House) are counted using the proportional representation system (new window).

Victorian Electoral Commission

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