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For elections to the Australian Parliament, see the Australian electoral system.
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly has 93 members elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies by preferential voting. The voting system is the same as for the House of Representatives except that New South Wales has optional preferential voting. This means that while voters may number every candidate if they wish, their vote is still formal if they choose not to. They may vote for one candidate only, or for as many candidates as they choose, provided that they number them in correct sequence.
The New South Wales Legislative Council has had three different methods of election (or appointment) in its history. From 1855 to 1933 its members were appointed by the Governor, and the Council had no fixed size. In the early part of this period the Governor exercised a personal discretion in appointing members, but once the convention became established that the Governor acted only on the advice of the Premier, this meant that the Council was in effect appointed by the Premier.
By the 1920s this was felt to be undemocratic and undesirable, so in 1933 the method of choosing members of the Council was changed by referendum. From 1933 to 1978, the Council consisted of 60 members, chosen for 12-year terms by a meeting of both Houses of the Parliament. One-third of the members came up for re-election every three years. This meant in practice that the party composition of the Council reflected that of the Assembly, with a lag of some years.
In 1978 Neville Wran 's Labor government reformed the Council again by referendum. Since that time the Council has been elected by the people by proportional representation, with the whole state voting as one electorate. Voting was preferential as well as proportional. The size of the Council was reduced to 45 members, serving nine-year terms, with one third of the members coming up for election every three years.
When the term of the Legislative Assembly was extended from three years to four in 1984, the size of the Council was reduced again to 42, serving eight-year terms, with half the members coming up for election every four years. The Council also uses optional preferential voting.
Nomination as a candidate requires:
The Victorian Legislative Assembly has 88 members elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies by preferential voting. The voting system is the same as for the House of Representatives.
(See also List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly)
The Victorian Legislative Council has 44 members elected for eight-year terms from 22 single-member constituencies known as provinces. Each province has two members, one elected at each quadrennial election. Each province consists of four Legislative Assembly electorates.
The Legislative Council has always been elected, but until 1950 it was elected on a restricted franchise based on property. Until the 1970s the distribution of provinces heavily favoured country areas. These two features kept the Council firmly under conservative control.
At the 2002 Victorian state election, Labor, led by Steve Bracks, gained control of the Council for the first time. The Labor government then passed legislation reforming the council. From the next election, due in 2006, the Council will have 40 members. The state will be divided into eight provinces, each of which will elect five members by proportional representation.