Voting is about issues - so keep on top of current affairs and be aware of what’s affecting you and your family, school, community, world. If you aren’t informed you might not be able to impact the decisions that affect you.
Researching Candidates
How do I find out about who I can vote for?
- Find your electorate. You can do this by looking up your state electorates on the VEC website (council, District, Region or Electorate).
- Check the VEC website. You can see a list of all the candidates (this would only be in the lead up to an election) who will be on the lower and upper house ballot paper for your electorate.
How do I decide who to vote for?
To decide who to vote for you first need to find out where candidates stand on the issues you care about.
You can do this by researching the candidates to find out which issues they support and oppose. It’s a good idea to check out their websites and social media pages if they have one. You can also email or call them to ask questions.
Based on this research, you can determine which candidates’ views match your own and then vote for them in the election.
At election time you may see advertising on TV, print and social medial for the candidates. Beware of these advertisements as they’re professionally crafted to make some candidates look good and others looks bad. You should look at independent news articles, interviews, debates, and editorials from sources you trust to get a more detailed picture of the candidate.
In the end, you need to make your own decision. Remember, voting is how you get to have a say about what happens in your local area, state and country. So make your vote count!
You can find out more about a candidate via:
- their website;
- their social media pages;
- writing to them and requesting information on their views and policies;
- the newspaper;
- the radio;
- talking to friends and family.
If you need information in an accessible format, you can contact candidates directly via email or phone, or visit their office to request it.
The most important thing is to make your vote count. Based on what you’ve learned about the candidates, think about how you will number your ballot paper before you go to vote. This way, you can guarantee that your vote will accurately represent your views.
So you've researched candidates and issues - and now you're ready to vote. Let's look at what happens on election day and how votes are counted.