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  • Writer's pictureLeonardo Puglisi

Ipswich City Council by-election to use first-past-the-post on the same day as Queensland state election

Division 4 voters are set to vote using an electoral system rarely seen in Australia.

Around 35,000 voters in south-east Queensland are about to head to the polls for a by-election to elected a single councillor − but there's a catch.


In an rare instance in modern-day Australia, the Division 4 by-election for Ipswich City Council will be conducted using first-past-the-post (FPTP), an electoral system where you vote for one candidate and cannot preference any others.


The by-election will also be held on October 26, the same day as the Queensland state election, where full preferential voting is used. FPTP has been widely criticised for its ability to split the vote and elect candidates that a majority of the electorate does not prefer.


Western Australia's local elections used first-past-the-post until the 2023 elections. This appears to make the Ipswich Division 4 by-election the only federal, state or local government election in Australia to currently use first-past-the-post to fill a single vacancy.


In a statement to 6 News, the Electoral Commission of Queensland confirmed that for multi-member divided councils, which is what Ipswich City Council is, "electors vote for councillors using the first-past-the-post voting system."


"As there is only one vacancy in the upcoming Ipswich Division 4 by-election, voters need to mark only one square on the ballot paper."

"Voters are encouraged to always read the instructions on the ballot paper. Unlike the State election being held at the same time where voters are able to vote anywhere in Queensland, Ipswich Division 4 voters must vote within the Ipswich City Council area or at Brisbane City Hall."


There's a reason for this system being used − Ipswich is composed of four wards that each elect two councillors, which is also essentially first-past-the-post. Voters must mark the same amount of boxes as there are positions to be filled. In a normal instance in Ipswich, this would be two, but in this by-election it will only be one.

A large number of Queensland local government areas that are unsubdivided (aka do not have wards) also use FPTP, although in those cases there is a larger number of positions to be filled. It's also worth noting that even in councils using FPTP, the mayoral election is always optional preferential voting (OPV).


At the March 2024 election, Division 4 had four candidates. Jim Madden had 30.93%, David Cullen had 25.94%, Russell Milligan had 22.59% and Sue Dunne had 20.55%. Madden and Cullen, both Independent Labor candidates, were elected. Cullen resigned last month for health reasons.


Unless there are only two candidates for this by-election, this could create some form of vote splitting. If there's three or more candidates, the only way the vote splitting factor would become negligible is if the winner has an outright majority with at least 50% of the vote.


The next Queensland local elections will be held in March 2028.


For more coverage of the 2028 Queensland local elections, click here

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