Articles from The Tally Room

Now that the Parliament has officially opened for its first sitting after the federal election, we’re off to the races with redrawing the electoral map for the next federal election, expected in 2028. No rest for the wicked.

Tasmanian election results can often be simplified to totals for each party in each electorate. But votes aren’t cast for parties, they’re cast for candidates. When candidates are elected or excluded, preferences don’t always flow to fellow members of the same party (or “leakage”). A particularly efficient distribution of votes within a party group can also allow a party to compete for an extra seat beyond what the party totals might suggest.

6:00 – Polls have just closed for the 2025 Tasmanian state election. I’ll be live-blogging the results here tonight. I’m also going to have a go at posting some video updates on Instagram if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Stay tuned for some results updates right here.

Hare-Clark is basically unique amongst Australian electoral systems because there is a realistic possibility that a member of parliament will lose their seat to a fellow member of the same party – indeed it happens fairly regularly. Another unusual feature is the use of countbacks. Members of parliament often choose to quit mid-term, and are replaced by a fellow member of their party without the need for a by-election.