The tables show the final order of election of the candidates in the February 18 ACT election. Under Hare-Clark there are no final voting figures. This is because the system ultimately makes every preference of every voter count towards and elected candidate unless the ballot is exhausted through not expressing enough preferences to stay “”live”. Those above the line were elected each with a quota of around 8400 votes, depending on constituency. All votes above that were distributed down. Those below the line were excluded from the bottom up and their preferences distributed to “”live” candidates above them, so they end with zero votes. Less than a hundred votes separated candidates at various exclusions _ the lesson for voters being to mark a full ballot paper of preferences, because every preference counts.
It appears that ACT voters expressed more preferences in a more disparate way than has been the general experience in Tasmania. In Molonglo, for example, less than 5000 ballots (7.5 per cent) were exhausted without contributing in some way to electing one of the candidates. Molonglo took 85 counts and the other two electorates between 20 and 30. The first count involving some 190,000 ballots in total and subsequent counts in each electorate typically involving several thousand ballots. The referendum, having been determined on Saturday night, was given a lower priority and the final figures are not expected until probably next week.