It is important on March 20 that when you vote that you are able to ensure that your vote will count towards electing the candidate you want.

Most of us are rusted-on voters and already know who we want to vote for. But will our votes count in the way we want?

Every voter is given two ballot papers – a green ballot paper for the House of Assembly (Lower House) and a white ballot paper for the Legislative Council (Upper House).

As the Lower House consists of 47 single-member electorates, the green ballot paper for each voter’s local electorate is relatively simple, with only one list of candidates. At this election the number of candidates ranges from four to nine (in the electorate of Adelaide).

Despite the fact that only one candidate will be elected from each electorate, for a vote to count it is necessary to number every square. While a majority of voters may be loyal to one or other of the major parties, they will also be forced to mark a preference for the candidate from the other major party.

Some other States now use optional preferential voting, so why not South Australia? Why do voters have to number candidates they do not want and are completely opposed to?

In deciding how to vote for the Lower House, a voter needs to consider whether it is a safe seat and whether that voter is happy with this. Marginal electorates attract much more attention during election campaigns and this often translates into more election commitments and resources for that electorate.

Voters need to also consider if their vote will actually elected someone to the Lower House. At the last State election 410,000 South Australians (44% of the total voters) found that their votes (or their preferences) did not elect anyone - surprisingly this included 28% of Labor voters. This is one of the main reasons that proportional representation needs to be introduced for the Lower House so that a much higher number of voters find their votes counting towards electing someone. The Upper House is elected using proportional representation, and in contrast 92% of all voters found their vote electing a candidate at the last election.

The second ballot paper is for the election for the Legislative Council (Upper House). Half of the Council is being elected on March 20 – with 11 to be elected from the State as one electorate. All voters are given the same white ballot paper.

With 11 to be elected, there are many more candidates. At this State election there are 74 candidates. While voters still have to mark preferences against all candidates, to assist with this process voters have a choice of voting above or below a red line

If voting above the line, the voter only needs to mark a first preference vote. The vote will be counted as if all candidates were numbered, but numbered in a certain way. Voting above the line means following a particular ticket registered by a political party or group. Voters should try and find out if that is the way they themselves would vote. Often it is difficult to access these tickets. The parties rarely advertise these. The tickets by law are displayed at polling booths on Election Day, but this is really too late for voters to use. The Electoral Commission has included these on their website, but these are difficult to access and to interpret.

Once a voter has been able to access these tickets, they need to be examined. While this is difficult, this is when it becomes interesting. Often the flow of preferences is not what would be expected. Voting above the line may mean that a voter finds they are electing someone they did not want.

If a voter does not to want to blindly follow a pre-determined order, voters do have the choice of voting below the line. But this is hardly a choice, when every square must be numbered. At the last State election with 54 candidates for the Upper House, it was not surprising that 95% of voters took the easy way out and voted above the line.

Of those that tried to vote below the line, 24% made a mistake and voted informally. This is unacceptably high.

There is no need to force voters to mark every preference, particularly as it is rare that a later preference will actually be needed. In NSW, to elect their Legislative Council there are 21 to be elected and for a formal vote, it is only necessary to number the first 15 candidates with any further preferences optional. Such a system is urgently needed here.

While you may know who you want to vote for on March 20, making your vote count in the way you want may not be so easy. Good luck!