(Update – my ACT Election guide for the ABC has had a soft launch. You can access it at this link. There’s a little more work to be done on the page linking.
A total of 149 candidates have nominated to contest the 2024 ACT election. That’s a record number for an ACT election, up from 141 at the first 25-member Legislative Assembly election in 2016.
Taking into account the number of members to be elected, the average of 5.96 candidates per vacancy is only the third highest, surpassed by an average 6.4 candidates per vacancy in 1998 and 6.9 at the free-for-all first ACT election in 1989.
The chart below compares total candidate and average candidates per vacancy at ACT elections.
The number of candidates and group columns on ballot papers by electoral division are -
- Brindabella - 24 candidates across 8 columns with one non-party candidate in the ungrouped column.
- Ginninderra - 33 candidates across 10 columns with two non-party candidates in the ungrouped column.
- Kurrajong - 34 candidates across 10 columns with one non-party candidate in the ungrouped column.
- Murrumbidgee - 27 candidates across 8 columns with one non-party candidate in the ungrouped column.
- Yerrabi - 31 candidates across 9 columns with two non-party and one Animal Justice candidates in the ungrouped column.
A table of candidates by party is inside the post.
| Party | Candidates | Contesting |
|---|---|---|
| ACT Labor | 25 | All seats |
| Canberra Liberals | 24 | All seats but only four candidates in Ginninderra |
| ACT Greens | 19 | All seats |
| Independents for Canberra | 20 | All seats |
| First Nation Party | 13 | Brindabella, Kurrajong, Yerrabi |
| Family First | 11 | All seats with three candidates in Ginninderra |
| Animal Justice | 9 | All seats |
| Labour DLP | 9 | Ginninderra, Kurrajong, Yerrabi |
| Belco Party | 5 | Ginninderra and Yerrabi only |
| Fiona Carrick Independent | 3 | Murrumbidgee only |
| Strong Independents | 2 | Kurrajong only |
| Libertarian Party | 2 | Ginninderra only |
| Ungrouped Independents | 7 | All seats |
| Total | 149 |
The nominations for Ginninderra are of interest. The Liberal Party disendorsed sitting MLA Elizabeth Kikkert just before the election. Kikkert was the party's highest polling candidate in 2024. The Liberal Party has not filled her vacancy and have only nominated four candidates.
Kikkert has emerged as a late addition to the Family First ticket in Ginninderra, which has the potential to split the conservative vote in the division and cost the Liberal Party a seat.
With the Liberal Party only nominating four candidates, and with ballot paper instructions saying to mark five preferences, this may boost the number of voters giving preferences to both the Liberal and Family First tickets. But there could still be significant leakage.
A major party in Tasmania under Hare-Clark would not stand fewer than the minimum number of preferences for fear of causing informal votes. This is not an issue in the ACT as while the ballot paper instructions say to complete 5 preferences, any vote with a valid first preference is still formal. The same savings provision as applied for above-the-line Senate voting.
Ginninderra is the only division where the newly named Libertarian Party is contesting. Labour DLP has also nominated a ticket, perhaps trying to again split the Labor vote. The presence of a Labour DLP ticket to the ballot paper left of Labor in Ginninderra at the 2020 election played a role in Labor losing its third seat.