How does the quota system work in the Upper House or Legislative Council?
Elections for the Legislative Council take place every 4 years, at which time half (21) of the 42 Members retire or stand for re-election. The whole of NSW acts as a single electorate electing 21 Members on a proportional basis. To be elected a party or candidate must get a certain proportion of the total NSW vote – the formula is 100% divided by 21 +1, or around 4.55% of the total vote – this is called a “quota’. The effect is that parties or candidates that get at least a quota of votes, should get about the same proportion of seats as they do votes – i.e. 10% of the total vote should gain about 10% of the seats. The general effect of this can be seen in the 1999 elections when the three major political parties between them gained about 67% of the primary vote and won 14 out of the 21 seats. Minor parties, with 1/3 of the votes also won 7 (or 1/3) of the seats. Thus the membership of the Legislative Council is able to accurately reflect minority political opinion in NSW as well as ma
