We had a cheerful little note from the Tasmanian Electoral Commission reminding us that we have to vote in 2 elections this year: the more celebrated Federal Poll and a low-key affair to find someone to represent us in the Legislative Council, Tasmania's Upper House.
The Tasmanian Government is an odd beast. We use the Hare-Clark system so the Lower House has five electorates which are the same as for Federal elections. We vote in 5 members from each electorate, making 25 in all. The Legislative Council is similar to the Senate in the Commonwealth Parliament but has 15 members representing a whole new lot of electorates. We're in McIntyre, apparently.
For most of its history the Legislative Council has only allowed members who have no political affiliation. As if! It was always easy to spot the Lib. or the Lab. and the Greens were glaringly obvious. So, in 2021, the farce was laid aside and people are now able to run under their party banner. We have three candidates to choose from: 2 Independents and 1 Green. One is named Downie and is probably associated with a big farming family from the Tasman Peninsula, another is called Rattray and I think she stood as a Liberal candidate in a previous election, and the third is called Houghton and all I know about him is he is a member of the Tasmanian Greens.
We go to the polls on May 7th but the whole thing is very low-key. Apparently it is compulsory to vote but I don't remember ever doing so in the past.
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