Here's your guide to voting in the federal election

It’s election day!

At your local polling place, you’ll be given two ballots to fill out: one for the House of Representatives, and one for the Senate.

Here’s your guide to voting.

House of Reps

Your House of Representatives ballot paper is the small green one.

It lists the candidates running to be your local representatives.

You must number every box.

Put a 1 in the box of your preferred candidate, then a 2 for your second preferred candidate, and number every box down to your least preferred candidate.

If you leave any boxes blank, your vote will not be counted.

The order of your preferences determines who your vote goes to if your first choice is not successful.

Senate

Your Senate ballot paper is the long white one. It lists the candidates running to represent your state or territory in the Senate.

There are two ways to fill it out.

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Above the line, you’ll see the names of parties.

If you choose to vote above the line, number at least six boxes in order of your top six preferred parties. You can number more than six if you want.

This will mean your vote will go towards those parties’ candidates in the order they appear.

If you leave a box blank, your vote will never go to that party.

Below the line, you’ll see the names of candidates.

If you choose to vote below the line, number at least 12 boxes. You can number more than 12 if you want.

You need to choose to vote either above the line or below the line, not both.

Voting

A volunteer from a political party may offer you a ‘how-to-vote card’ with a suggestion of how to fill out your preferences.

These are just suggestions. You can follow it if you like, but your preferences are your own decision.

There will be a lot of parties and candidates on your ballot. You may not have heard of all of them. If you’re unsure, take out your phone and Google it. It’s not an exam!