Though voting in Australia is compulsory you there are several options and support for accessible alternatives including early voting from Wednesday 18th of November:

For understanding these options I recomment: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/voting/2026-state-election/voting-options

In Australia we use a system called preferential voting which means instead of choosing a single candidate you rank several candidates state elections involve 2 votes.

1. For the lower house, or the Legislative Assembly where you vote on candidates for an electorate (such as Caulfield)

2. Upper House, or the Legislative Council where you vote on candidates for a district (such as the southern metro district which includes Caulfield and 10 surrounding electorates
   

When voting for the lower house (which is where you will find my name) you must rank every candidate in the order of your preference by placing a number next to their name

In the upper house however things are slightly different:
you need to preference at least 5 groups above the line or at least 5 candidates below the line on your ballot paper. You may number more than 5 candidates up to the whole ballot. A group is a party or another group of candidates who agree to run together.

For a clear and effective explanation of how these votes are counted I recommend checking out Auspol explained or going to the VEC website.

HTVCs or how to vote cards are simply recommendations of how to vote as proposed by a candidate, party or other interested group. You are encouraged to decide for yourself in which order to preference every candidate.

For more info on what HTVCs are and are not check out the VEC youtube