Negotiating Preferences

To win an election for single council wards you need to get 51% of the vote for your ward, obtaining this in the first count is highly unlikely. This is where preferences become your friend. Preferences are determined by the voter, Voters rank candidates in order of their preference from their first choice (1) to their last choice on the ballot paper.   What is the real impact of preferences & why negotiate them! The negotiation of preferences is the process of other candidates asking you (or you ask them) to attempt to sway your voters 2, 3, 4…… preference votes after placing you as their “first” choice through the use of How to Vote (HTV’s) cards. There is no hard and fast rule to negotiate preferences, your how to vote card can say anything you want.  It may just be number 1 on the HTV for yourself. Or you can opt not to produce a HTV at all. However, gaining a good mix of preferences from other candidates is often an election winning strategy even if you do not have a majority first preference of votes. Download a copy of our information sheet here - Negotiating Preferences v1