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Microparty, micro-party, or micro party is a term, sometimes pejorative, for a small political party that doesn't attract enough votes to be elected to a legislature in its own right.[1][2][3] The term is most commonly used in Australia where the combination of single transferable vote (also known as preferential or alternative voting) and group voting tickets enabled microparties to direct preferences to each other, so that one of them could well be elected even when each party individually attracted very few primary votes.[4]

History and background

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Australian voters have historically elected independents and candidates from smaller parties to the Australian Senate and the upper houses of Australian states and territories.[5] For example, Brian Harradine was an independent Senator for Tasmania for thirty years from 1975 to 2005.[6]

Group voting tickets

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Main article: Group voting ticket

Upper house elections have attracted a large number of candidates, and until the 1980s voters had to number every box in sequence on a large ballot paper. It was difficult to complete successfully, and informal votes were commonly around ten percent.[7]

The Hawke government introduced group voting tickets (GVTs) for the Senate 1984 election. Political parties submitted a complete ticket before the election, and voters simply wrote a 1 above the line to select that party's ticket.[8] Once "above the line" voting was introduced, the vast majority of voters used it – usually around 95 percent.[9][10][11]

Group voting meant political parties chose preferences, and not voters. The effect was to amplify the effectiveness of preference deals between parties. Instead of just giving guidance to their supporters in a how-to-vote card, they could control the allocation of preferences.

GVTs encouraged the formation of single-issue microparties, who harvested votes and then distributed preferences, often to destinations their voters might not have expected. As the number of microparties increased, the ballot paper got bigger and more daunting, increasing the likelihood that a voter would vote above the line.

Minor Party Alliance

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See also: Minor Party Alliance

If all microparties preference each other despite policy differences, it becomes possible one of them will be elected, although which one can be hard to predict.

Glenn Druery, known as the "preference whisperer", organised the Minor Party Alliance, a network of microparties that agreed to preference each other. The alliance first operated in the 1999 New South Wales state election.[12][13] Wilson Tucker was elected in 2021 with 98 primary votes as a result of one of Druery's deals: it is believed to be the lowest primary vote for any candidate elected to an Australian parliament.[14]

David Leyonhjelm was elected to the Australian Senate in 2014 as a candidate of the Liberal Democrats. He benefited from preferences from the Smokers' Rights Party, Outdoor Recreation Party and Republican Party of Australia; he was an official or adviser to all three.[15][16][17]

List of successful microparty candidates

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Minor Party Alliance contains a list of associated microparties.

The following candidates have been elected to Australian legislatures from primary votes under 2%.

Name Party Year Legislature Primary vote
Malcolm Jones Outdoor Recreation Party 1999 NSW 0.19%
Peter Breen Reform the Legal System 1999 NSW 1.00%
Steve Fielding Family First 2004 Senate 1.9%
Wayne Dropulich[a] Australian Sports Party 2013 Senate 0.02%
Ricky Muir Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party 2013 Senate 0.51%
James Purcell Vote 1 Local Jobs 2014 Victoria 1.26%
Rod Barton Transport Matters Party 2018 Victoria 0.62%
Clifford Hayes Sustainable Australia 2018 Victoria 1.26%
David Limbrick Liberal Democratic Party 2018 Victoria 0.84%[18]
Wilson Tucker Daylight Saving Party 2021 WA 0.18%

Notes

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  1. ^ Although Dropulich was elected upon a recount of ballots, the Western Australian Senate election results were declared void and re-run in 2014. Dropulich did not win a seat.

References

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  1. ^ Micro party Senate hopefuls defend their legitimacy amid electoral reform push, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 9 September 2013, archived from the original on 23 March 2017, retrieved 6 March 2021
  2. ^ Rosemary Bolger (29 April 2019), Anti-Muslim, anti-vaxxers and pro-men: Your guide to the new micro parties, Special Broadcasting Service, archived from the original on 12 August 2020, retrieved 6 March 2021
  3. ^ Stephen Morey, Explainer: How does the Senate voting system work?, The Conversation, archived from the original on 3 March 2021, retrieved 6 March 2021
  4. ^ Why You Should Vote Below the Line Today, The Age, 24 November 2018, archived from the original on 8 November 2020, retrieved 6 March 2021
  5. ^ Zareh Ghazarian, Small Parties, Big Changes: The Evolution of Minor Parties Elected to the Australian Senate, Papers On Parliament no. 68, Parliament of Australia, archived from the original on 19 May 2019, retrieved 6 March 2021
  6. ^ Former Senator Brian Harradine, Parliament of Australia, archived from the original on 23 May 2019, retrieved 6 March 2021
  7. ^ By Accident Rather than Design - a Brief History of the Senate's Electoral System, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 June 2015, archived from the original on 20 December 2020, retrieved 6 March 2021
  8. ^ Antony Green (23 September 2015), The Origin of Senate Group Ticket Voting, and it didn't come from the Major Parties, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, archived from the original on 24 February 2021, retrieved 6 March 2021
  9. ^ "Glossary of Election Terms - Federal Election 2007". ABC. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  10. ^ Antony Green, Submission to the Victorian Parliament's Electoral Matters Committee Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2018 Victorian State Election (PDF)
  11. ^ The growth and success of Proportional Representation using the Single Transferable Vote (PR-STV), Proportional Representation Society of Australia, archived from the original on 14 February 2021, retrieved 6 March 2021
  12. ^ James Purtill (7 March 2016), Inside the meeting of minor parties facing annihilation and plotting revenge, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, archived from the original on 8 November 2020, retrieved 6 March 2021
  13. ^ Matthew Elmas (7 May 2016), Minor Party Alliance – far from united, Upstart magazine, archived from the original on 30 October 2020, retrieved 6 March 2021
  14. ^ Ramsey, Michael (30 April 2021). "Regions targeted in WA electoral reform". 7NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  15. ^ Revealed: the libertarian Right's micro-party links, Crikey, 22 August 2013, archived from the original on 17 November 2020, retrieved 8 March 2021
  16. ^ Jackson Stiles (12 December 2013), How a faulty fax machine threatens the micro-party alliance, The New Daily
  17. ^ Liam Mannix (3 December 2013), Accusations Fly in Micro-party Stoush, IN Daily, archived from the original on 13 September 2017, retrieved 8 March 2021
  18. ^ "2018 State election results". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
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