PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA
	Tel +613 9589 1802	Tel +61429176725	18 Anita Street	BEAUMARIS VIC 3193
		ggd@netspace.net.au	www.prsa .org.au	12th October 2008

Extremes in Percentages of First Preference Vote for Elected Tasmanian MHAs at Polls since Hare-Clark Began in 1909
Source data by courtesy of the Tasmanian Electoral Commission
Compare the Hare-Clark pattern below with the pattern for Senate elections, which shows much less evenness in the spread of first preference votes among the elected candidates within a party column than does Tasmania’s Hare-Clark system. The much greater control parties exercise for Senate elections is because the Senate’s PR system inherited the pre-existing REGIMENTED system of voting created by the listing of candidates’ names in each party column on the ballot-paper in the order the party determines. The Senate system became even more REGIMENTED in 1983 by the introduction of GROUP VOTING TICKETS. Tasmania’s Hare-Clark system has never let parties set the order of candidates’ names on ballot-papers. Its Parliament chose Robson Rotation instead, in 1979.
Note that the only case since 1909 of any MHA gaining an absolute majority of first preferences votes was Douglas Lowe, in Franklin, in 1979.
		Minimum Percentage of First Preference Votes								Maximum Percentage of First Preference Votes
Polling Day	Quota (%)	Bass	Braddon (Darwin until 1955)	Denison	Franklin	Lyons (Wilmot until 1984)	Mean of all 5 districts	Elected Candidate with Lowest percentage of First Preference Votes		Bass	Braddon (Darwin until 1955)	Denison	Franklin	Lyons (Wilmot until 1984)	Mean of all 5 districts	Elected Candidate with Highest percentage of First Preference Votes
								Name	Order in Column on Ballot-paper							Name	Order in Column on Ballot-paper
2006-03-18	16.67	9.30	8.73	9.36	10.51	6.01	8.78	Heather Butler	Robson Rotation	23.30	24.43	18.42	26.06	21.19	22.68	Paul Lennon	Robson Rotation
2002-07-20	16.67	9.10	7.44	2.57	9.17	7.03	7.06	Judy Jackson	Robson Rotation	17.50	16.99	35.51	18.16	19.57	21.55	Jim Bacon*	Robson Rotation
1998-08-29	16.67	8.49	5.54	5.00	5.40	7.11	6.31	Judy Jackson	Robson Rotation	15.47	22.03	31.83	20.44	13.46	20.64	Jim Bacon*	Robson Rotation
1996-02-04	12.50	5.62	4.39	6.47	5.59	3.55	5.12	Lara Giddings	Robson Rotation	14.34	14.01	16.16	13.55	16.11	14.84	Ray Groom*	Robson Rotation
1992-02-01	12.50	3.08	4.79	1.57	2.95	4.05	3.29	John Barker	Robson Rotation	30.90	22.60	26.79	23.67	31.84	27.16	Robin Gray*	Robson Rotation
1989-05-13	12.50	6.10	5.52	2.74	6.64	2.29	4.66	Graeme Page	Robson Rotation	17.03	18.12	21.67	18.25	35.70	22.15	Robin Gray*	Robson Rotation
1986-02-08	12.50	7.28	7.49	4.97	5.40	2.90	5.61	Graeme Page	Robson Rotation	20.75	18.74	16.26	17.67	42.22	23.13	Robin Gray*	Robson Rotation
1982-05-15	12.50	5.22	6.46	4.74	2.22	2.05	4.14	Stephen Salter	Robson Rotation	24.12	14.55	24.33	25.77	32.27	24.21	Robin Gray*	Robson Rotation
1980-02-16#	12.50			4.64				Robert Mather	Robson Rotation			17.77			17.77	Neil Batt	Robson Rotation
1979-07-18	12.50	4.29	5.26	1.73	0.67	4.59	3.31	Dick Adams	By lot: 2nd of 7	22.12	16.79	25.70	51.21	22.24	27.61	Douglas Lowe*	By lot: 1st of 7
1976-12-11	12.50	6.61	6.67	1.01	5.32	3.12	4.55	Max Robinson	By lot: 2nd of 8	19.34	15.92	31.01	24.04	16.93	21.45	Sir Max Bingham QC	By lot  1st of 8
1972-04-22	12.50	4.20	3.71	3.78	4.88	4.40	4.19	Sidney Ward	Alphabetical: 8th of 8	18.73	35.40	23.89	19.11	15.30	22.49	Eric Reece*	Alphabetical: 7th of 8
1969-05-10	12.50	5.57	3.55	4.12	3.68	3.56	4.10	Sidney Ward	Alphabetical: 8th of 8	11.94	34.18	13.07	14.90	17.21	18.26	Eric Reece*	Alphabetical: 7th of 8
1964-05-02	12.50	5.34	4.31	1.74	3.47	7.32	4.44	Horace Strutt	Alphabetical: 6th of 7	11.71	34.70	26.81	21.46	16.65	22.27	Eric Reece*	Alphabetical: 6th of 8
1959-05-02	12.50	4.53	3.35	3.24	6.36	8.60	5.22	William Hodgman	Alphabetical: 2nd of 6	27.93	30.41	25.12	13.75	17.16	22.88	Eric Reece*	Alphabetical: 4th of 7
1956-10-13	14.29	8.95	7.03	2.89	5.94	7.97	6.55	Horace Strutt	Alphabetical: 5th of 6	14.53	17.45	26.51	17.01	15.28	18.16	Sir Robert Cosgrove*	Alphabetical: 6th of 6
1955-02-19	14.29	8.69	6.97	3.57	7.39	7.43	6.81	Horace Strutt	Alphabetical: 5th of 6	12.61	19.04	27.84	13.75	16.76	18.00	Reginald Townley	Alphabetical: 1st of 6
1950-05-05	14.29	8.36	6.55	1.19	7.51	6.04	5.93	Horace Strutt	Alphabetical: 5th of 6	12.46	16.48	31.84	11.98	19.39	18.43	Reginald Townley	Alphabetical: 6th of 6
1948-08-21	14.29	7.76	5.35	3.77	7.23	4.46	5.71	Henry Hope	Alphabetical: 4th of 7	16.84	17.95	20.36	16.36	22.23	18.75	Neil Campbell	Alphabetical: 4th of 6
1946-11-23	14.29	5.79	4.21	3.63	5.38	4.76	4.76	Charles Culley	Alphabetical: 2nd of 8	16.21	15.06	31.99	20.09	15.37	19.74	Reginald Townley	Alphabetical: 2nd of 2
1941-12-13	14.29	7.67	3.41	5.68	4.05	9.26	6.01	Henry Lane	Alphabetical: 5th of 6	27.48	41.01	34.27	26.68	18.73	29.63	Thomas D'Alton	Alphabetical: 3rd of 6
§ For all the dates below, all candidates’ names were listed in a single column on the ballot-paper but, for the dates above, the names of the candidates of each parrty were listed in separate columns.
1937-02-20	14.29	5.89	6.72	7.90	3.79	7.19	6.30	Basil Plummer	Alphabetical: 10th of 12	30.70	30.69	19.00	34.93	27.77	28.62	Albert Ogilvie KC*	Alphabetical: 7th of 12
1934-06-09	14.29	5.14	5.29	5.67	6.04	5.11	5.45	Donald Cameron	Alphabetical: 5th of 16	19.49	13.64	14.64	23.55	15.28	17.32	Albert Ogilvie KC*	Alphabetical: 8th of 12
1931-05-09	14.29	7.11	6.72	4.35	6.31	9.85	6.87	Sir John Soundy	Alphabetical: 15th of 19	14.55	23.67	21.49	18.88	16.06	18.93	Thomas Butler	Alphabetical: 3rd of 13
1928-05-30	14.29	7.48	6.25	6.97	6.79	4.07	6.31	Eric Ogilvie	Alphabetical: 8th of 13	17.26	17.42	15.58	25.22	28.98	20.89	Joseph Lyons*	Alphabetical: 6th of 13
1925-06-03	14.29	6.91	8.56	7.25	5.18	2.10	6.00	William Shoobridge	Alphabetical: 14th of 14	21.47	17.63	11.94	28.16	30.59	21.96	Joseph Lyons*	Alphabetical: 7th of 14
1922-06-10	14.29	8.26	7.33	7.45	7.06	7.66	7.55	Peter Murdoch	Alphabetical: 8th of 16	13.85	18.66	13.98	13.60	17.71	15.56	James Ogden	Alphabetical: 8th of 12
1919-05-31	14.29	9.17	10.04	4.71	3.99	6.18	6.82	Benjamin Watkins	Alphabetical: 17th of 17	16.74	14.58	20.87	20.71	23.82	19.34	Sir Walter Lee*	Alphabetical: 5th of 11
1916-03-25	14.29	9.49	7.76	7.03	8.71	7.15	8.03	John Cleary	Alphabetical: 2nd of 9	19.69	19.28	19.58	25.71	21.72	21.20	John Earle*	Alphabetical: 4th of 8
1913-01-23	14.29	8.00	10.30	8.44	5.85	8.01	8.12	David Dicker	Alphabetical: 3rd of 9	20.53	13.34	14.94	20.55	17.46	17.38	John Earle*	Alphabetical: 4th of 9
1912-04-30	14.29	6.55	8.30	6.37	3.67	4.88	5.96	George Martin	Alphabetical: 10th of 11	18.46	14.81	16.46	21.92	17.29	17.79	John Earle*	Alphabetical: 4th of 11
1909-04-30	14.29	6.34	12.07	7.04	7.85	8.96	8.45	Richard McKenzie	Alphabetical: 8th of 13	16.36	17.06	16.47	21.37	21.30	18.51	John Earle*	Alphabetical: 3rd of 12
Mean		6.69	6.34	4.66	5.36	5.68	5.74			18.75	20.87	21.94	21.53	21.48	20.84
Extreme		3.08	3.35	1.01	0.67	2.05		Dick Adams	By lot: 2nd of 7	30.90	41.01	34.27	51.21	42.22		Douglas Lowe*	By lot: 1st of 7
Robson Rotation began at the 1980 Denison poll the Supreme Court ordered. It is, unfortunately, not yet used in Senate polls, but it has applied for Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly polls since 1992. Order in a column was alphabetical until 1976, and by lot for 1976 and 1979. * Marks a sometime Tasmanian Premier.            # Marks the Denison by-election the Supreme Court ordered, declaring all 7 Denison seats vacant. § Until 1941 all candidates were in a single column. From 1941, party candidates were grouped, by mutual consent, in party columns designated by the name of the party, and all other candidates were in a single column at the far right of the ballot-paper designated as "Independents". The order, from left to right, of the columns across the ballot-paper has, since their introduction in 1941, continued to be determined by lot, and is not determined by Robson Rotation.