This voting system is the easiest to understand and apply. In an election, people vote for their desired candidate. The candidate whom receives the highest number of formal votes is elected. From Australian Federation in 1901 until 1917, Australia used the Simple majority voting system, inherited from the United Kingdom, for all elections. However, it is currently sometimes and only used in Australian local government elections, not for electing members of Parliament. This voting system is more commonly used in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and India.
Preferential Voting
The term "preferential voting" means voters are required to indicate an order of preferences for candidates on the ballot paper, i.e. who they want as as their 1st choice, 2nd choice and so on. In order for a candidate to be elected, they must achieve an absolute majority - one more than 50% of the total formal votes cast. If the absolute majority is not gained on the first count, the votes are distributed according to preference until an absolute majority is obtained. In Australia, preferential voting is employed in elections for the House of Representatives and other State lower houses, apart from the Tasmanian House of Assembly and the A.C.T. Legislative Assembly.
Proportional Representation
This voting system aims to produce election results where winners gain seats in proportion to the votes they secure. In proportional representation, the candidate or party can be selected by the voter. A quota (total number of formal votes / number of candidates + 1) must be achieved by a candidate in order for them to be successful. If they receives an exact quota of votes, they are elected and their ballot papers are set aside. However, if more votes than the quota are received, the candidate is elected and the surplus votes are distributed to the other candidates at a transfer value (less than one) according to the voters' preferences. Proportional representation is used in the Australian electoral system to elect candidates to the Senate, the Upper house, and Local government councils.