| Term/Acronym |
Definition |
| Candidates |
More than 300 candidates contest a Queensland General Election. An average of four candidates runs for each of the 89 districts. |
| Commissioner |
The independent officer appointed by the Governor, with the responsibility for the proper conduct of Queensland Parliamentary and other statutory elections. |
| Contested District |
A contested district is a district with two or more candidates nominated for an electoral event. |
| District |
An electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the State Parliament which elects one member. Queensland is divided into 89 electoral districts. |
| Declared District |
Once a candidate has officially won the election, the district is declared. |
| District Status |
Used to define district statuses. Statuses include: ‘Current’, ‘Pending’, ‘Awaiting Final Approval’, ‘Awaiting Preference Approval’ and ‘Final for Election Night’. |
| Distribution of Preferences |
A ballot paper where the voter has indicated preferences for additional candidates by marking numbers in the squares beside the candidates in their preferred order. |
| ECQ |
Electoral Commission of Queensland |
| On Election Night |
Polling booths have closed and election counting begins. |
| ERIS |
Election Results Information System – used to enter, record and report on state elections, by-elections and referenda results. |
| Exhausted Votes |
A vote is exhausted when a ballot paper has no second or further preferences to be distributed. |
| Final for Election Night |
This status is assigned to each district when no further results will be released on election night. The public website, tally output and media feed all display this status. |
| First Preference Votes |
A ballot paper that has been marked with the number one (1) beside one (1) candidate only. |
| Formal Votes |
A ballot paper which has been correctly marked according to instructions where the voter’s intentions are clear and which is counted towards the outcome of the poll. |
| Independents |
Candidates that are not affiliated with a registered party. |
| Informal Votes |
Ballot papers without clear first preferences are regarded as Informal Votes, and are not included in candidate counts. |
| Notional Two Candidate Preferred (N2CP) |
Where an Electoral District has more than two candidates, a Notional Two Candidate Preferred Count is then undertaken. Preferences are allocated to the two candidates selected by the Electoral Commissioner. This may assist in indicating a possible winner. |
| Party |
There are three different types of statuses for political parties:
- Registered – Parliamentary: the party has elected members in parliament.
- Registered – Non Parliamentary: the party does not have elected members in parliament but has 500 active members who are electors.
- Deregistered: the party has no members in parliament or 500 active members who are electors.
|
| Polling Booth |
The venue or location where voters can vote on polling day. It is supplied with voting screens and ballot boxes and is staffed by polling officials. Places where mobile polling is conducted are also official polling booths. In most cases, mobile polling booths operate in the week leading up to polling day. |
| Polling Day |
Queensland elections are always held on a Saturday. Polling booths are open to take votes from 8am until 6pm. |
| Post Election Night |
The period after election night where votes are finalised. |
| Remote Area Mobile Polling |
In the Torres Strait and remote communities on the Cape York Peninsula mobile polling teams visit to take votes in areas considered too remote to justify an ordinary polling booth. |
| Returning Officer |
An electoral officer who is appointed by the Governor-in-Council upon the recommendation of the Electoral Commissioner to be responsible for the conduct of the election for an electoral district. |
| Seat Type |
Used to define the type of seat being contested at an electoral event. Seat types include District, Ward and Division. |
| State General Election |
Queensland has three-year parliamentary terms, with an election announced usually towards the end of each term. There is, however, no statutory minimum period between State elections, so a government can choose to hold an election at any time within its three-year term. |
| Uncontested District |
An uncontested district is a district with only one candidate nominated for an electoral event. |
| Virtual Tally Room |
The virtual tally room is our online version of the Tally Room. Similar to the Tally Room, our virtual version reports on election results at the state level, per district and even by polling booth. |
| Ward |
The term used to define areas in a local government election. These divisions are similar to districts. The Brisbane City Council has 26 wards. |
