How preferences move during an Australian House count
The electoral commission explains how lower-ranked candidates are excluded and their ballots transferred.
Australian House of Representatives voters rank candidates in their electorate. Officials begin with first preferences. If no candidate has an absolute majority, they exclude the lowest candidate and transfer those ballots to the next available preference.
The process continues until a candidate reaches a majority. As a result, the first-preference leader can finish behind another candidate once preferences are distributed. The Australian Electoral Commission publishes results that let readers follow those stages separately.