Voting Systems in Tasmania

House of Assembly

Also known as	Lower House (House of Assembly elections are known as the State election)
Number of Members	35 Members, including the Premier 7 Members per division
Number of Divisions	5
Term of Office	Up to 4 years
Voting Systems	Proportional Representation - Hare-Clark system; Partial Preferential; Robson Rotation
Enrolment	Compulsory enrolment for Australian citizens 18 years & over, if lived at current address for 1 month or more.
Electoral Legislation	Constitution Act 1934 Electoral Act 2004 Electoral Regulations 2005
Notable features	Electioneering and 'how-to-vote' cards not permitted on polling day.
Redistribution of Electoral Boundaries	Usual practice is to adopt Commonwealth boundaries after each Commonwealth redistribution.

Legislative Council

Also known as	Upper House, or House of Review
Number of Members	15 Members 1 Member per division
Number of Divisions	15
Term of Office	6 years Periodic cycle electing 2 or 3 divisions each year
Voting Systems	Partial Preferential; Robson Rotation
Enrolment	Compulsory enrolment for Australian citizens 18 years & over, if lived at current address for 1 month or more.
Electoral Legislation	Constitution Act 1934 Electoral Act 2004 Electoral Regulations 2005
Notable features	Electioneering and 'how-to-vote' cards not permitted on polling day.
Redistribution of Electoral Boundaries	Every 9 years, unless 4 divisions vary by more than 25% from average.

Local Government

Also known as	Councils, or Municipal areas
Number of Councillors	7, 8, 9, 10 or 12, depending on the Council; 263 Councillors in total
Number of Councils	29
Term of Office	4 years
Voting Systems	Proportional Representation - Hare-Clark - Partial Preferential for Councillors; Optional Preferential for Mayor & Deputy Mayor; Robson Rotation
Enrolment	Same as State Roll, plus owners and occupiers on each Council's General Manager's Roll.
Electoral Legislation	Local Government Act 1993 Local Government (General) Regulations 2015
Notable features	Elections are entirely a postal ballot.
Adjustment of Boundaries	Boundaries adjusted by Governor, on recommendation of Local Government Board.

Updated 14 February 2024.

Glossary

Hare-Clark -
A system of counting votes when each division has more than one elected representative.
Optional Preferential -
First preference must be made, further preferences are optional.
Partial Preferential -
The elector must make a minimum number of preferences - usually this is the number of members to be elected.
Periodic Cycle -
For the Legislative Council, 3 members are elected one year, & 2 members the next. This is repeated three times, then the 6 year cycle begins again.
Proportional Representation -
A system of voting designed to elect representatives who receive a specified proportion (or quota) of the formal votes. Hare-Clark is a type of proportional representation used at Lower House, and Local Government Councillor elections.
Redistribution of Boundaries -
Moving the geographical boundaries that define the area that a member or members in a Parliament, or Councillors represent, to accommodate shifts in population.
Robson Rotation-
The process of rotating the names of the candidates on the Ballot Papers, so that favoured positions (i.e. top and bottom of the ballot paper) are shared equally between all candidates.

A great infographic comparing the differences in electing the 2 houses of Parliament in Tasmania.

Voting systems in Tasmania - A summary