Next Tasmanian state election


The next Tasmanian state election is scheduled to be held in or before 2022 to elect all 25 members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly.
The incumbent Liberal government, currently led by Premier of Tasmania Peter Gutwein, will attempt to win a third term against the Labor opposition, currently led by the Tasmanian Opposition Leader, Rebecca White. Also contesting the election will be the Greens, currently led by Cassy O'Connor.
The House of Assembly uses the proportional Hare-Clark system to elect 25 members in five constituencies electing five members each. Upper house elections in the 15-seat single-member district Legislative Council use full-preference instant-runoff voting, with election dates staggered and conducted separately from lower house state elections. The election will be conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

Date

Under section 23 of the Constitution Act 1934, the House of Assembly expires four years from the return of the writs for its election. The writs for the 2018 Tasmanian state election were returned on 15 March 2018. The Governor must issue writs of election between five and ten days thereafter. Nominations must close on a date seven to 21 days after the issuance of the writ, and polling day must be a Saturday between 15 and 30 days after nominations close, meaning the election must take place by 14 May 2022.

Background

The previous election in 2018 saw the Liberal Party led by Will Hodgman retain government, winning 13 seats compared to the Labor Party's 10 seats and the Greens with 2. Despite holding a one-seat majority, the Liberal Government's choice for Speaker was rejected by the Assembly shortly after the new parliament began sitting in May 2018. Liberal member Sue Hickey was elected to the Speakership with the support of Labor and the Greens. Hickey revealed she would vote independently on government bills though she has said she will "always support the Liberal Government" on confidence and supply.

Polling

Polling is regularly conducted for Tasmanian state politics by Enterprise Marketing and Research Services. The sample size for each EMRS poll is 1,000 Tasmanian voters.