It's not over yet ...

[Matilda]

There are still seats where a battle is going on.

Indi- Cathy McGowan giving Sophie Mirabella a run for her money - literally neck and neck, and changing by the minute. If Mirabella loses, that will be cause for celebration.

Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly is just hanging on, but it's so close between him and Lib. Peter Hendy, it could take another week before anything is certain.

Senate ACT The Libs' Zed Seselja is ahead, but there are a record number of thousands of below-the-line votes which may favour Simon Sheikh. They only started counting those today.

Anyone know of any other cliffhanger seats?

No way has this election been a landslide, not with so many close results.

[Dawson Leery]

1. Where can you get the second preference vote totals?

[Matilda]

2. When it's over, Antony Green usually puts up a post

Go here: http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/

But it's pretty hard to find out anything except front-runners while it's all happening.

[Matilda]

3. 1,003 "missing" votes just found in Indi.

Appears they favour Cathy McGowan.

How very interesting. I wonder who "lost" them?

(Rumour on Twitter - I can't vouch for it)

Edit to add: Mirabella now trails by 1,000 votes - dare we hope?

[Matilda]

4. Wangaratta votes will probably have to be recounted

because of missing votes found.

I had my conspiracy theory hat on, but this is apparently quite normal - just put in the wrong place, not hidden away. But it seems that those who know Wangaratta were very surprised at the low vote count for Cathy McGowan, and this seems to put it to rights.

[TheMadMonk]

5. Don't kid yourself darl*. It's the swing absent redistricting which matters.

Our one hope now is that the Coalition doesn't pick up 51 seats in the Senate. Or even worse, that
the many extreme right minor parties don't gain enough to influence ruling policy.

*permitted under our shared Ocker heritage I hope luv?

[Matilda]

6. The Senate's gone, I'm afraid.

All those wacky minor parties are likely to vote with Abbott, so he'll get his legislation through.

But at least it's prompted calls for Senate voting reform. I voted below-the-line, and it took me fifteen minutes, going back and forth trying to figure out where the parties were placed on the ballot. It's a ludicrous system, and above the line voting just lets all the parties (Greens and Labor included) to game the system. I felt pretty disgusted with them all over some of the deals that were made.

The final composition of the Senate won't entirely reflect voters' real intentions.

And no, mate, I'm not offended by being called "darl".

Edit to add: And remember, the national swing was around 3.5% - not the 7-8% forecast by the pundits.

[Matilda]

7. Eden-Monaro gone.

n/t

[CBHagman]

8. Aargh, I didn't know you had to go through this too.

Recounts and reappearing ballots and all!

[Matilda]

9. And are Mirabella's people mad!

Threatening to go to court.

It's all the more pleasing because Mirabella is a detestable woman; everything you ever loathed about right wingnuts all rolled into a person only a mother could love.

[Matilda]

10. Very good breakdown of Senate voting from Antony Green

(Mr Wonderful). He's so good at explaining how it all works, I almost understand it.

Not quite, because how someone with less than 1% of the vote can be allowed to sit in the Senate has got me beat. We do need changes before the next election.

Keating called the Senate "unrepresentative swill". I didn't see his point, until now.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/