http://www.ozpolitic.com/electoral-reform/optional-preferential-voting.html#only-rational-if-entirely-optional

An electoral system where voters can rank one, some, or all candidates in order of preference is called optional preferential voting (OPV). In Australia, this system is used to elect the lower house in NSW state elections and for QLD state and local government elections. QLD and NSW call the system optional preferential voting, even though it is still compulsory to turn up and vote. OPV is a way to get rid of compulsory voting by stealth, without actually saving people the trouble of voting. Most people who promote it have a fundamental misunderstanding of how preferential voting works. They tend to think that being forced to rank the two major parties somehow works in their favour. In fact, the opposite is true. Optional preferential voting is a dream come true for the major parties and will help them hold on to power.

Optional preferential voting misleads most voters and is often promoted on fundamentally undemocratic principles. It is based on misidentifying the source of the two party duopoly, which is single member electorates rather than compulsory voting or preferential voting. Finally, optional preferential voting is likely to benefit the coalition above the Labor party in the short term, by fragmenting left wing voters under a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.

• Confusion with the federal Senate system
• OPV is only rational if voting is entirely optional
• Misrepresenting preferential voting
• Optional voting and preferential voting are completely different issues
• OPV helps the major parties, not the minor parties
• The laziness argument
• OPV is promoted on undemocratic principles
• Single member electorates cause the two party duopoly, not compulsory voting
• Optional preferential voting will benefit the coalition

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