Editorial: Tactical Voting

SPOILER ALERT: Barnaby Joyce is set to return as the member for New England tomorrow, but how you use your preferences can send important messages to the major parties.

The major parties don’t pay attention to votes numbered after them, but they do notice the votes that are put before them on the ballot.

Since we have to number 17 boxes for our vote to be valid, it is worth considering how those numbers can be used tactically.

For example:

1. If you are a farmer and technology is important to you, your first preference might go to the Science Party candidate, followed by other candidates who are farmers with a technology bent such as Pete Mailler and Rob Taber. Then put down whichever major party you prefer.
2. If you voted no for the gay marriage issue and church rights are important to you. You could give your first couple of preferences to candidates who didn’t support gay marriage, such as Richard Stretton from the Christian Democratic Party and Warwick Stacey – Seniors United Party of Australia. Then vote for whichever major party you prefer.
3. If animal welfare is important to you, then there is a candidate for that so you can give Skyla Shane Wagstaff your number 1, then give 2 to your preferred major party. Or if you are in the equine industry and oppose mining you might give your 1 to Skyla, 2 to the Greens, then 3 to your preferred major party.
4. If health is important to you you could place Tristam Smyth, who is a Tamworth based doctor as 1 and then your other preferences.

Whatever issues are important to you, you can represent that in how you number your preferences before voting for a major party.

Another approach is to choose your favourite candidate and follow their ‘how to vote’ card because they have already mapped out their ‘tactical vote’ based on the issues they represent.

Giving a major party your first preference means your vote stops with them.

If you vote first for smaller candidates your vote will still flow to either of the two major parties but send a message to both of them about policies and issues that are important to you.

Of course there can be elections where putting 1 could result in a smaller candidate actually winning, but there is seriously low risk of that occurring tomorrow.

So it is the ideal time to use the numbers in the boxes to show your preferences for policies and topics that are important to you.

Why do they run?

For most of the candidates running tomorrow this election will leave them out of pocket and taken six weeks of their time. So why do they do it?

In speaking with many of them it is about wanting a stronger voice on a range of issues they don’t see as being well represented by the major parties.

Even if you don’t agree with their policies, their effort in running is more than most of us would ever do to make a difference.

And after you vote…don’t forget the Christmas in White Park: