currently do not have a representative<\/a>, will have 11 to choose from, as will voters in the Adelaide Hills seat of Kavel and the regional seat of Flinders.<\/p>\nAn SA lower house seat has never been contested by more than nine candidates before.<\/p>\n
This year, the average number of candidates per lower house seat is more than eight.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, voters in the eastern suburbs seat of Bragg will have the least amount of choice this election, with only five candidates contesting.<\/p>\n
Longer vote counts<\/p>\n
The consequence of bigger ballot papers is that it could take longer to determine the result of some seats.<\/p>\n
ABC chief elections and data analyst Casey Briggs said in some seats it could mean “we’re not getting a result on election night”.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/684c3c6a196bf205eee6708cbffd32ef.jpeg\")
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Casey Briggs says right wing minor parties are driving the rise in candidate numbers.<\/p>\n
“It takes longer to look at a ballot of 10 names and sort through the preference ordering and make sure it’s a formal ballot than it does when you’ve only got five numbers to look at,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.<\/p>\n
This could be particularly significant in seats like Flinders, where Liberal frontbencher Sam Telfer is fighting to hold onto his seat from a crowded field of candidates, and Kavel, where a three-cornered contest has emerged between Labor, the Liberals and an independent.<\/p>\n
“More candidates means more likelihood that the preferences will become more important and a little bit less predictable on election night,” Mr Briggs said.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the electoral commission will this year be able to count pre-poll and postal votes on election night.<\/p>\n
Previously, those votes had to be set aside until the Monday after the Saturday election.<\/p>\n
Family matters<\/p>\n
Casey Briggs said the “single biggest driver” of the surge in candidate numbers were right wing minor parties.<\/p>\n
For example, One Nation is running in every lower house seat, as is former senator Bob Day’s Australian Family Party.<\/p>\n
Mr Day’s party is not to be confused with the similarly named Family First party, which is running 35 candidates.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ee907b9247da2251ac220a115e1296f0.jpeg\")
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South Australia’s ballot draw ahead of the 2026 state election.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n
Former One Nation MLC Sarah Game is also running 22 candidates under her new “Fair Go for Australians” banner; among those is her mother, Jennifer Game, in the southern suburbs seat of Black.<\/p>\n
But Fair Go’s family ticket is no match for the Australian Family Party.<\/p>\n
Six members of the Day family \u2014 Bob, John, Bill, Joanna, Eleanor and Tom \u2014 will be running for seats this election.<\/p>\n
“I should have found another Day so we could’ve had a week,” Bob Day told the ABC.<\/p>\n
The party is also running five members \u2014 Craig, Jethro, John, Jonathan and Peter \u2014 from the Attard family egg business.<\/p>\n
“We’re a family party, so we really do believe in groups running, so we all support each other,” Mr Day said.<\/p>\n
“We practice what we preach.”<\/p>\n
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