AT 12 noon on June 10 all the candidates throwing their hat into the ring for the 2016 election had their names draw out and the ballot order was finalised.

Pulling out the lucky spot at the top of the ballot was independent candidate Cr. Marcus Cornish, who is contesting his first federal election. Greens candidate, Kingsley Liu and Fiona Scott, the Coalition incumbent, were pulled out second and third respectively.

The last name, and the 11th pulled out for the ballot was NXT candidate, Stephen Lynch, who is also contesting his very first election.

In some cultures it is lucky to be last but in terms of what it is like on a ballot it is not so lucky because of a silly little thing called a donkey vote.

A donkey vote is when voters simply place a number in each of the boxes in descending numerical order. This means the candidate one will get a one in their box, candidate two will get a two in their box, candidate three will get a three in their box and so on until the end.

In this case of a donkey vote Cr. Cornish would get a one and Mr Lynch would get an 11.

Donkey votes can change the results of an election and can rise the profile of fringe candidates, they can also cause recounts, and in some extreme cases could trigger a bi-election.

#Federalpolitics #Federalelection2016 #Lindsay #FionaScott #NickXenophon #NXT #MarcusCornish