Liberal MP Alan Tudge announced his resignation from Parliament yesterday. It means there will be a by-election to replace Tudge as the representative for his seat of Aston. Here’s how that will work.
By-elections:
A by-election is an election held to replace a single member of the House of Representatives outside of a normal election cycle. Just like in a normal election, voting is compulsory for the people who are registered in the relevant electorate. Once the official ‘writ’ for a by-election is issued (which hasn’t happened yet), there will be a window of time for people to enrol to vote or change their details.
Aston:
The seat of Aston is in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs, including Boronia, Wantirna and Rowville. It has been held by the Liberal Party since 1990 and by Tudge himself since 2010. Tudge held it by a comfortable margin until last year’s Federal Election, when he suffered a large drop in support and held the seat by only 2.8%. In the most recent Victorian state election, Labor picked up more support in the area.
