There is more encouraging news on the Group Ticket Voting front today with the Allan Carroll Government finally amid the chaos introducing a Bill to scrap group ticket voting in the Victorian Legislative Council, called the Electoral Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2026. This rolling thread will follow what happens with this Bill during the week and what is in it.
What is known so far is that the Bill will "remove group voting tickets from Legislative Council elections and prescribe a new method for voting above the line, requiring electors to number at least five groups in order of preference. The bill will also make other consequential and miscellaneous amendments to clarify and improve the operation of the Electoral Act and the electoral system in Victoria."
This establishes that the Bill will support a semi-optional Senate-style preferential system (possibly the simple "five above or five below" option), presumably with savings provisions for voters who number fewer above the line boxes. This is the sensible choice as it encourages preference flows compared to a fully optional preferencing version as in states with lower quotas.
The Bill is scheduled for second reading in the Assembly tomorrow. Annoyingly in Victoria Bills are not publicly displayed on the website until they get to that stage and therefore I have still not seen the text of this Bill. A copy would be very handy if anyone has one! Both Houses sit for only three days this week so I expect the Bill to be passed by Thursday if it is to be passed this week. The Bill is expected to need Coalition support to pass the Legislative Council.
I will follow what happens with this Bill with updates through the week.
Tuesday 9:30 pm: The Bill is listed third under Government Business for second reading with the sitting starting at 9:30 am Wednesday.
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