Voting in the 2022 Federal Election begins today via pre-poll voting at H-Block-08 at Southern Cross University then this Saturday, 14 May 12&14 Carrington Street will open (Check out the venues for early voting - it starts tomorrow )

The Lismore App has a MEET YOUR CANDIDATES button in orange on the front page. It lists all 10 candidates in the seat of Page with direct links to their websites so you can understand what each candidate stands for (Meet Your Candidates).

To make your vote count, below are instructions from the Australian Electoral Commission on how to complete your ballot paper.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

To vote for a Member of the House of Representatives, you are required to write the number '1' in the box next to the candidate who is your first choice, and the numbers '2', '3' and so on against all the other candidates until all the boxes have been numbered, in order of your preference.

Ballot papers must be marked according to the rules for voting so that they do not create informal votes. Ballot papers cannot be counted if they are informal.

Polling officials at the polling place are available to assist voters in completing their ballot paper. If you make a mistake on a ballot paper you may return it to the polling official who issued it and receive a fresh one.

• Practise voting - House of Representatives

Formal votes

To make a formal vote on a House of Representatives ballot paper, you need to number every box with a series of consecutive numbers according to your preference. You need to:

• write the number '1' in the box beside the candidate who is your first choice,
• write the number '2' in the box beside the candidate who is your second choice,
• write the number '3' in the box beside the candidate who is your third choice, and so on until you have numbered every box.

Informal votes

An informal ballot paper is one that has been incorrectly completed or not filled in at all. Informal votes are not counted towards any candidate but are set aside.

A House of Representatives ballot paper is informal if:

• it is blank or unmarked,
• ticks or crosses have been used,
• it has writing on it which identifies the voter,
• a number is repeated,
• the voter's intention is not clear, or
• it has not received the official mark of the presiding officer and is not considered authentic.

Note: If a House of Representatives ballot paper has all squares numbered consecutively but one, then it is assumed that the unmarked square constitutes the last preference and the ballot paper will be deemed formal.

Each state and territory elects multiple Senators using a preferential voting system.

At a federal election, only half of the Senate positions for each state typically become vacant, resulting in six Senate vacancies per state, while all territory Senate positions become vacant.

THE SENATE

The order of the party columns on the ballot paper for each state and territory is determined by a random draw held immediately after the declaration of nominations.

Some columns on the Senate ballot paper will feature a party logo but some will likely not. This is dependent on each party officially registering a logo with the AEC.

Senate ballot papers are white in colour.

On the white Senate ballot paper, you need to either:

• number at least six boxes above the line for the parties or groups of your choice, or
• number at least 12 boxes below the line for individual candidates of your choice.

Polling officials at the polling place are available to assist voters in completing their ballot paper. If you make a mistake on a ballot paper you may return it to the polling official who issued it and receive a fresh one.

• Practise voting - Senate

ABOVE THE LINE

If you vote above the line, you need to number at least six boxes from 1 to 6.

Place a 1 in the box above the party or group that is your first choice, the number 2 in the box above the party or group that is your second choice and so on until you have numbered at least six boxes above the line. You can continue to place numbers in the order of your choice in as many boxes above the line as you like.

Your preferences will first be distributed to the candidates in the party or group of your first choice, then to candidates in the party or group of your second choice and so on, until all your preferences have been distributed.

BELOW THE LINE

If you vote below the line, you need to number at least 12 boxes from 1 to 12.

Place a 1 in the box beside the candidate that is your first choice, and the numbers 2, 3, 4 and so on to at least the number 12. You can continue to place numbers in the order of your choice in as many boxes below the line as you like.