Voting procedures could be set for a major shake-up, with the Abbott government flagging changes to the Senate process over widespread confusion at the weekend. Constitutional law experts said on Monday many punters had no idea of who they had actually voted for, with a maze of preference deals and sprawling ballot paper contributing. “In this election it was almost impossible for an ordinary voter to cast a vote with knowledge of where their preference might ultimately end up,” said Professor George Williams from Melbourne University. “Even if you were an expert you would have struggled to have a sense of who you ultimately voted for in the Senate and that’s a major problem. People ended up voting for someone they didn’t support and in many cases voting for someone who they didn’t even know existed.”
Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott said the oversized NSW Upper House ballot paper featuring 110 candidates and a virtually-unknown party with a similar name scoring votes intended for the Liberals showed the system needed to be addressed.
However, the Australian Electoral Commission insisted it stood by its decision to allow the Liberal Democrats name on the basis it was different enough to the Liberal Party of Australia name.
Full Article: Tony Abbott wants voting ways to change | News.com.au.