Group Voting Ticket - Tactical Voting

Tactical Voting

Using GVTs, the potential for tactical voting by parties is greatly increased. Because voters are not usually aware of how a party's preferences are directed, GVTs have allowed minor parties with low support in the community to be elected almost exclusively on the preferences of other parties, for example, where small parties with very different views have agreed to exchange preferences, or where larger parties have sought to minimise votes for opponents with similar views.

A notable case came in the New South Wales Legislative Council election of 1999, when the Outdoor Recreation Party's Malcolm Jones was elected with a primary vote of 0.19%, or 0.042 of a quota. Another example was the Family First Party senator Steve Fielding elected to the Australian Senate on a primary vote of 1.76% (or 0.123 of a quota) in the 2004 federal election, on the preferences of several other parties including the Australian Democrats, liberals for forests and a reciprocal deal with the Australian Labor Party.