Senate How-To-Vote & Tactical Below-The-Line (BTL) Calculator

How Tactical Reverse-Ticket Below-The-Line (BTL) Voting Works

Under Australian Senate Single Transferable Vote (STV) rules, top-of-ticket major party candidates (`#1` and `#2` on Labor or Coalition tickets) almost always exceed a full quota on Above-The-Line (ATL) primary votes alone. When their surplus is transferred down the ticket, every ballot inside that pile is multiplied by a transfer value TV = (V − Q) / V ≪ 1.

If you instead vote Below The Line in reverse ticket order (`#6, #5, #4, #3, #2, #1` within your preferred group), your `#1` preference lands on the bottom candidate (`#6`), who is eliminated early before reaching a quota. Your ballot then transfers upward through `#5` and `#4` to the genuinely marginal `#3` candidate at full 1.00 transfer value—maximising your leverage in the final-seat exclusion race. See our detailed mathematical derivations in Tactical Voting (2016 Federal Senate) and NSW Upper House How-To-Vote Generator.