Do you know people who decide their politics based on the party line?

@Scorchar I heard you guys have runoff votes for third party candidates. Is that true? Is it just ineffective?

@melloquacious

http://australianpolitics.com/voting/preferential

voters are required to place the number “1” against the candidate of their choice, known as their first preference.
voters are then required to place the numbers “2”, “3”, etc., against the other candidates listed on the ballot paper in order of preference.
the counting of first preference votes, also known as the primary vote, takes place first. If no candidate secures an absolute majority – 50% plus 1 – of primary votes, then the candidate with the least number of votes is “eliminated” from the count.
the ballot papers of the eliminated candidate are examined and re-allocated amongst the remaining candidates according to the number “2”, or second preference votes.
if no candidate has yet secured an absolute majority of the vote, then the next candidate with the least number of primary votes is eliminated. This preference allocation continues until there is a candidate with an absolute majority. Where a second preference is expressed for a candidate who has already been eliminated, the voter’s third or subsequent preferences are used.

@Scorchar Thank you. I have heard a few Americans talk about this system as the solution to our problem with the polarized, two-party system, but - from what you're saying - it sounds like partisan politics are alive and well in spite of it.

@melloquacious What I have always hated about politics in Australia is that the person running the country gets his job because he's the leader of the most popular party. Although he/she was reelected in his own electorate, that is only a tiny part of Australia & most of us do not get a say in it.