What Happens at House of Assembly Elections (2014)

To be elected as a Member of the House of Assembly, a person must be an elector, or be entitled to have his / her name placed on the roll for a House of Assembly division;

and

or

A person is ineligible to be nominated as a candidate for an Assembly election if he or she is: a member of the Legislative Council; or a candidate for election in another division of either House for which the writ has not been returned; or a member of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.

• by a registered party,
• as part of a group on the ballot paper, or
• as an individual.

The candidate page contains more information and the relevant forms.

The nomination form must be received before noon on the day the nomination period closes. All candidate nominations must include a $400 nomination deposit.

The nomination period for the 2014 House of Assembly elections closes at 12 noon Thursday 27 February.

The $400 nomination deposit is refunded to candidates who:

• withdraw their nomination before 12 noon on nomination day,
• die before polling day,
• are elected, or
• obtain votes equaling one fifth of the quota, at any stage in the scrutiny.

At the 2006 election, approximately 2 000 votes were required to receive a refund.

If you wish to be nominated as a candidate, you should first carefully read the TEC’s Candidate Guide and the candidate information page on the TEC website. You should also consult the Electoral Act 2004 whichcan be accessed on-line at Tasmania's legislation online.

At 12 noon on the day following the close of nominations, the names of the candidate contesting the election are officially announced.

Once the candidates have been announced, the draws for positions on the ballot paper are undertaken. The order of the candidate names are rotated for all Tasmanian parliamentary and local government ballot papers. This is to ensure that preferred positions on the ballot paper are shared equally between all candidates.

At a House of Assembly election, the ballot paper draw occurs in two stages:

1. The party/group draw (one single draw)
2. Candidate draw (one for each column on the ballot paper)

The first draw is to determine the position of each party and group across the ballot paper. Once this has been completed there is a separate draw for the first rotation of the candidates within each candidate and group.

A full list of candidates for the House of Assembly elections is published as full-page advertisements in The Advocate, The Examiner and The Mercury a few days after the announcement of candidates. The list of candidates shows the party columns in the order they will appear on the ballot papers, with candidate names shown in alphabetical order.

After the ballot draws have been completed, ballots papers can be produced for pre-poll, postal and express voting.

Pre-poll voting, postal voting and express voting are available as soon as the list of candidates is confirmed.

Polling day is Saturday, 15 March 2014. Polls are open from 8 am to 6 pm, AEDT.

You may vote in any of Tasmania’s 312 polling places on polling day.

The last day you can vote at an interstate electoral office is the Friday before polling day. Contact the office directly for opening hours.

Election rolls for all five divisions will be available at every polling place. This means you can cast an ordinary vote anywhere in the state.

Immediately after the polls close, counting of first preferences begins at the polling places.

Preliminary voting results are reported as they arrive at the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s tally room at Wrest Point in Sandy Bay. The tally room is open to the public. Most Tasmanian broadcasters report live from the tally room on election night. The tally room is located in the Tasman Room of the Wrest Point Hotel and Casino, 410 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay. Wrest Point is approximately 3 km from Hobart’s CBD.

Preliminary results will also be posted to this election website and ElectionsTas smartphone app as they become available.

Although election night results can give a good indication of who is likely to be elected and which party is likely to form government, changes can occur as preferences are distributed. The final list of elected candidates and the number of seats each party will win will not be known until the Hare-Clark scrutiny has been completed.

For a behind the scenes look at the 2010 Tally Room action, enjoy this gallery.

There is a 10 day period after polling day for postal votes to return from overseas and interstate. During this period Returning Officers will organise formality rechecking on all ballot papers and progressively accept and process returning postal votes.

First preference votes for each candidate are then amalgamated before a final check of the ballot papers.

On the Monday before the final cut-off for postal votes, Returning Officers may commence a provisional distribution of the ballot papers received by candidates who have been elected on first preferences. Completing a provisional distribution of these ballot papers speeds up the scrutiny process.

The Hare-Clark electoral system is a Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representation used in multi-member electorates. Single transferable vote means that a ballot paper moves between candidates as determined by the elector's preferences.

Hare-Clark explained

Enjoy this animation about voting in a Tasmanian House of Assembly elections.

Looking for a more detailed explanation of Hare-Clark? Read more.

The Declaration of the Poll is a short ceremony at which the Returning Officer formally announces the successful candidates. Successful candidates are asked to speak, followed by other candidates present who may wish to do so. The Declaration of the Poll is open to candidates, the media and the public.

Following the declarations, the writs for all 5 divisions will be returned to His Excellency the Governor.