Electoral Systems of The Australian States and Territories - Tasmania

Tasmania

The Tasmanian House of Assembly has 25 members, elected for four-year terms from five multi-member constituencies, each electing five members by STV proportional representation. Tasmania is the only state to use proportional representation to elect its lower house. Tasmania uses a form of STV known as the 'Hare-Clark system', which was introduced in 1909. Casual vacancies are filled by the 'countback' method, which involves recounting the original ballot papers to elect one of the candidates who stood but failed to be elected in the last election.

The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Tasmanian parliament. It has 15 Members, each representing one of 15 electoral divisions. Elections are conducted on a 6 year periodic cycle. Elections for 3 members are held in May one year, with elections for 2 members held in May the following year and so on. Legislative Council elections use same full preferential voting used for the Australian Federal House of Representatives. Elections are held on the first Saturday in May each year.

Until recently Tasmania required voters to be residents of the state for at least six months before they were eligible to enrol and vote. This is no longer the case, bringing Tasmania into line with other states and the federal government.

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