Infodump-Australian Capital Territory election, 1989

For some of my readers, this post is not going to be especially interesting. This post is mostly to put some data out there that may be useful to those seeking a record of Australian electoral history, and that is in too awkward a format to add to Wikipedia.

The Australian Capital Territory, after its formation, was directly governed by the federal government. Gough Whitlam's government established an elected assembly for the ACT, like with the Northern Territory. However, unlike the Northern Territory, the ACT was not given self-government; the assembly retained mainly an advisory role.

In 1978, a referendum took place on the governing status of the ACT. Voters were offered three options. They could vote for the ACT to have self-government, with the same power the Northern Territory has. This would effectively remove the role for the Federal Government in the government of the ACT. They could vote for power to be shared between an elected local government body and the federal government. Or, they could vote for the status quo.

The result was a landslide for the status quo. Territorians did not like the idea of more politicians, and did not want to have the same funding arrangements as the states. The government respected the result, and the current arrangements were kept in place. The elected advisory Assembly was continued, but voter interest was low.

In 1988, however, the federal Labor government decided to introduce self-government unilaterally. Four pieces of legislation were passed by the Federal Parliament to introduce self-government. The government would be a minimalist one; there would be no representative of the Crown to give assent to legislation, dissolve the legislature or appoint a cabinet. Assent to legislation would be automatically given by passage through the legislature, legislatures would have fixed terms, and the Chief Minister would be elected by secret ballot in the legislature and would then appoint a cabinet.

One of the most controversial parts of the legislation was the electoral system for the legislature. The Labor Party wanted the same electoral system as used for the federal House of Representatives; preferential voting with single member districts. However, Labor did not have a majority in the Senate at the time, and needed Liberal/National or Australian Democrat support for the legislation. 

Both parties, fearing that the ACT's homogeneous electoral geography would lead to Labor domination over the territory's government, blocked the legislation and demanded that the government introduce a proportional system. Labor, seeing this as inevitable, decided to go with a party-list system. The Australian Democrats didn't like this, though. Their status as a centrist party meant that they would be advantaged by preferential voting, and so they supported a system that would include preferences in a similar way to the single transferable vote. The Senate process merged the two systems, in a way that made a mess of both of them.

"Modified D'Hondt"

The resulting system was christened 'Modified D'Hondt'. It combined many of the key elements of the system used for the Senate, as well as party list proportional representation. These two have been combined before in Australia; South Australia used a hybrid of the two for elections to their upper house in the 1970s. Voters were permitted to number as many or as few parties as they wanted. Parties that failed to receive one-half of the Droop quota (about 4.16% of the vote) had their preferences distributed to parties that had hit that threshold. All seats were then distributed using the largest-remainder system and the Droop quota. However, the ACT system added a few more complicated features. I'll get right into the explanation.

Voting

Voting under Modified D'Hondt was a relatively simple process. The ballot paper was similar to that used for the Senate. There was a thick black line across the paper, with boxes for parties above the line and boxes for their candidates below. Voters voted by placing the number 1 in any box. That's all. They could number boxes for as many or as few candidates or parties as they wished, and they could number both parties and candidates (for example, you could vote 1 for John Smith, a Liberal candidate, 2 for the Labor Party box, and 3 for Jane Smith, a Green candidate).

Despite this, the informal rate was similar to the last federal House of Representative elections, where more preferences are required; it was speculated that this was due to people writing disparaging comments about the candidates on the ballot paper.

Counting

Counting was a more complicated process. It happened in stages. The first stage of counting was the simplest. All votes for a party or its candidates were counted and added up. The total of this was divided by 18 (the Droop quota; votes/seats+1). Parties that did not have this many votes were excluded from the count from this point on. This aspect of the law was controversial. Thresholds are fairly common under party-list systems, but at that point had only been used in South Australia under the aforementioned list system. 

At the second stage, the preferences from the parties that had failed to meet the quota were distributed. So, if you had voted 1 Shooters 2 Liberal, and the Shooters had failed to meet the quota, your vote would now go to the Liberal Party. At this point, party and candidate votes were not distinguished between. Votes with no preferences outside a party (i.e 1 Shooters, 2 Robert Jones, who is a Shooters candidate) could be transferred according to the party voting ticket, which was a list of all the parties in ranked order. If there was preferences outside a party, but none of them were for a party that had met the quota, the vote was exhausted and set aside: it will not play any further role in the count.

At the third stage, the D'Hondt system was used to distribute seats to parties in the normal way, using vote totals determined through the preferences. These were not formal allocations, though. Under the electoral law, these were considered only 'provisional', for reasons to be explained later.

At the fourth stage, seats were provisionally allocated to candidates within parties, based on the number of seats the parties had been provisionally allocated. This was done using the single transferable vote to count the rankings voters made when they voted for parties. A vote above the line for a party counted as a vote down that party's ticket. An incomplete vote within a ticket would have its preferences counted as far as they had been expressed. Further preferences in that vote would be considered ticket votes. For this reason, few candidates were elected outside their party's order.

At the fifth stage, candidates who had not been provisionally elected, but who were part of parties who had won a quota, had their preferences distributed to the next candidate still in the count. Candidates were not 'excluded' per se; they could still have votes distributed back to them.

The sixth stage was effectively a repetition of the third. The D'Hondt system was used to distribute seats amongst the parties using the new, adjusted vote totals. It would be possible that the seat distribution would change at this stage. As could be expected, the seventh stage was a repetition of the fourth. The single transferable vote was used to distribute seats within parties, using the new votes. These seats were final.

Election results

The results below are votes for individual candidates, organised into parties. Please note that first preference votes cast for more than one candidate within a party have been counted as party votes. An asterisk (*) denotes elected candidates.

Party/Candidate	Votes	%
Labor	24587	17.33%
Rosemary Follett*	6654	4.69%
Paul Whalan*	321	0.23%
Wayne Berry*	90	0.06%
Ellnor Grassby*	90	0.08%
Bill Wood*	159	0.11%
Di Ford	33	0.02%
Kevin Gill	96	0.07%
Anna Robieson	40	0.03%
Martin Atteridge	40	0.03%
Peta Beelen	22	0.02%
Barry Reid	260	0.18%
Total Labor	32410	22.85%
Liberal	15526	10.94%
Gary Humphries*	3446	2.43%
Trevor Kaine*	1203	0.85%
Robyn Nolan*	70	0.05%
Bill Stefinak*	234	0.16%
Greg Cornwell	171	0.12%
Lyle Dunne	49	0.03%
Peter Kobold	90	0.06%
Judith Dowson	67	0.05%
Peter Jansen	86	0.06%
Bob Winnel	137	0.10%
Total Liberal	21079	14.86%
No Self Government Party	14125	14.86%
Craig Duby*	1657	1.17%
Carmel Maher*	55	0.04%
David Prowse*	54	0.04%
David Prowse*	54	0.04%
John Taylor	55	0.04%
Norman Henry	23	0.02%
Peter Alabaster	55	0.04%
John Cunningham	42	0.03%
Chris Elworthy	18	0.01%
Elma Lindh	14	0.01%
Nev Aurousseau	14	0.01%
John Cantlon	14	0.01%
Ken Durie	10	0.01%
Bob Smythe	31	0.02%
Lindsay Sales	11	0.01%
Phillipa Meredith	22	0.02%
Jack Wight	22	0.02%
Yvonne Hammond	44	0.03%
Total No Self Government Party	16274	11.47%
Residents Rally	8765	6.18%
Bernard Collaery*	1855	1.31%
Norm Jensen*	129	0.09%
Michael Moore*	301	0.21%
Hector Kinloch*	1696	1.20%
Joan Kellett	191	0.13%
Chris Donohue	142	0.10%
Marion Le	385	0.27%
Kevin Giles	77	0.05%
Catherine Rossiter	106	0.07%
Total Residents Rally	13647	9.62%
Abolish Self Government Coalition	9165	6.46%
Dennis Stevenson*	1327	0.94%
Flo Grant	36	0.03%
Gladys Dickson	15	0.01%
Chris Tazreiter	33	0.02%
Nerolie Bush	17	0.01%
Geoff Dopel	29	0.02%
Trish Orton	10	0.01%
Gail Aiken	20	0.01%
Mike Trevethan	35	0.02%
Reg Hayward	6	0.00%
Colin Beaton	15	0.01%
John Hesketh	23	0.02%
Total Abolish Self Government Coalition	10721	7.56%
Abolish Self Government Coalition	9165	6.46%
Dennis Stevenson*	1327	0.94%
Flo Grant	36	0.03%
Gladys Dickson	15	0.01%
Chris Tazreiter	33	0.02%
Nerolie Bush	17	0.01%
Geoff Dopel	29	0.02%
Trish Orton	10	0.01%
Gail Aiken	20	0.01%
Mike Trevethan	35	0.02%
Reg Hayward	6	0.00%
Colin Beaton	15	0.01%
John Hesketh	23	0.02%
Total Abolish Self Government Coalition	10721	7.56%
Fair Elections Coalition	1397	0.98%
Tony Fleming	5269	3.71%
Alan Runciman	494	0.35%
Sara Kirchbaum	94	0.07%
Gordon McAllister	19	0.01%
Gus Petersilka	345	0.24%
Julie McCarron-Benson	147	0.10%
Total Fair Elections Coalition	7765	5.47%
Fair Elections Coalition	1397	0.98%
Tony Fleming	5269	3.71%
Alan Runciman	494	0.35%
Sara Kirchbaum	94	0.07%
Gordon McAllister	19	0.01%
Gus Petersilka	345	0.24%
Julie McCarron-Benson	147	0.10%
Total Fair Elections Coalition	7765	5.47%
Independent Haslem	4253	3.00%
John Haslem	2548	1.80%
Caryl Haslem	66	0.05%
Total Independent Haslem	6867	4.84%
ACT Community Party	1645	1.16%
Ken Fry	3977	2.80%
Dominic Mico	142	0.10%
Lorne Doyle	13	0.01%
Total ACT Community Party	5777	4.07%
Canberra First Party	3774	2.66%
Allan Nelson	904	0.64%
Beryl Byrnes	29	0.02%
John McMahon	17	0.01%
Jeff Brown	74	0.05%
Michael Apps	18	0.01%
Barry Brogan	21	0.01%
Jennie Booth	8	0.01%
Arthur Hetherington	5	0.00%
Elizabeth Apps	16	0.01%
Mike McColl	31	0.02%
Matt Campbell	9	0.01%
Garry Behan	12	0.01%
Total Canberra First	3885	2.74%
Family Team	2929	2.06%
Bev Cains	686	0.48%
Ron Gane	26	0.02%
Bill Fearon	22	0.02%
Dennis Meagher	34	0.02%
Drewe Just	12	0.01%
Total Family Team	3885	2.74%
Australian Democrats	1720	1.21%
Arminel Ryan	515	0.36%
Bill Mason	47	0.03%
Heather Jeffcoat	68	0.05%
Total Australian Democrats	2350	1.66%
National Party	1477	1.04%
David Adams	380	0.27%
Michael Mullins	58	0.04%
Bruce MacKinnon	32	0.02%
Total National Party	1947	1.37%
Sun Ripened Warm Tomato Party	1165	0.82%
Emile Brunoro	453	0.32%
Rick Kenny	48	0.03%
Total Sun Ripened Warm Tomato	1666	1.17%
Party!Party!Party!	733	0.52%
Amanda Call	200	0.14%
Shane McMillan	46	0.03%
Total Party!Party!Party	979	0.69%
Christian Alternative Party	580	0.41%
Nathan Stirling	222	0.16%
Bernadette Ibell	44	0.03%
Total Christian Alternative Party	846	0.60%
Socialist Workers Party	483	0.34%
Kristian Whittaker	230	0.16%
Total Socialist Workers Party	713	0.50%
Sleepers Wake	120	0.08%
John Bellamy	53	0.04%
Total Sleepers Wake	173	0.12%
Surprise Party	124	0.09%
C.J.Burns	42	0.03%
Total Surprise Party	166	0.12%
Disabled and Redeployed Workers Party	106	0.07%
Peter Burrows	50	0.04%
Derek Robinson	7	0.00%
Total Disabled and Redeployed Workers Party	140	0.10%
Tony Spagnolo Independent for Canberra	75	0.05%
Tony Spagnolo	65	0.00%
Total Tony Spagnolo Independent for Canberra	140	0.10%
A Better Idea	64	0.05%
Michael Scurfield	16	0.01%
Total A Better Idea	80	0.06%
Home Rule OK	41	0.03%
Tony Boye	21	0.01%
Total Home Rule OK	62	0.04%
Independent candidates
Bill Mackey	5686	4.01%
Harold Hird	1872	1.32%
Lyall Gillespie	522	0.37%
Frank Crnkovic	445	0.31%
Bill Pye	414	0.31%
John Rocke	149	0.11%
Bob Reid	121	0.09%
Gary Pead	75	0.05%
Tony Boye	60	0.04%