With pre-poll voting underway for the seat of Lismore, the Lismore App received an email asking if we could explain preference voting and how it works.

The question raised was "how can candidates choose to give their votes to another party?"

As Deborah points out, "If I number my preferences, isn't it my choice where my preferences go?

It is totally up to you where your preferences go and that depends on how you mark your voting sheet.

A candidate may suggest where they would like your preferences to go through their 'How To Vote' pamphlets that are thrust upon you when you head to the pre-polling venues and then voting venues on Saturday.

How you vote is totally your choice. Just make sure you understand what you need to do to make your vote count.

The Legislative Assembly paper is where you vote for your local member for a four-year term and the Legislative Council paper is where you vote for people to represent the whole state of NSW for eight years. This election you are voting for half the required 42 seats with the other half voted for in the 2027 election.

For the Legislative Assembly, you need to place a '1' in the box next to your favourite candidate. Then, if you wish, you can then place a '2' in another box next to your next favourite candidate, then a '3', '4' and so until your boxes are full.

According to the NSW Electoral Commission, you decide how many people you want to vote for as long as there is at least a '1' in one box for your vote to count.

For the larger white Legislative Council paper, you can see there are two options, voting 'Above the Line' (above the thick blue line in the image above) or 'Below the Line'.

You must vote either Above the Line OR Below the Line but NOT both.

Voting 'above the line' means you are voting for all candidates in that group and in that order. You simply put a '1' in the box above your favourite group. You can mark a '2' if you wish, next to another group and continue to mark'3', '4' as many as you like until the Above the Line boxes are full. To make your vote count you need to mark at least a '1' in one box.

If you decide to vote Below the Line, you need to mark a '1' with your favourite candidate then a '2', '3' and so on until you have completed at least 15 candidates. You must mark at least 15 candidates to make your vote count and you can vote in any group or mix of groups and ungrouped candidates. You can mark more than 15 candidates if you wish.

Again, you can only mark either Above the Line OR Below the Line, NOT both.

There is a page dedicated to 'How You Cast Your Vote' on the NSW Electoral Commission website including a video, click here to view the page.

Pre-polling is open:

• Thursday, March 23: 8:30am to 8pm
• Friday, March 24: 8:30am to 6pm

Venues

• Goonellabah Community Centre, 27 Oliver Avenue.
• Lismore Early Voting at 104 Molesworth Street, Lismore.
• Murwillumbah Civic and Cultural Centre, 10-14 Tumbulgum Road, Murwillumbah
• Kyogle Memorial Institue Hall 6-8 Stratheden Street, Kyogle.

Voting is open 8am to 6pm on Election Day Saturday, March 25. The list of voting venues will be published prior to the election.