Nearly 60 percent of the 300 winners in single-seat constituencies in Sunday's House of Representatives general election were endorsed by less than 30 percent of the voters in their electoral districts, analyses of the results show.
The data apparently highlights the inherent problem of the winner-takes-all electoral district system, in which votes cast for candidates other than the winner are effectively "dead votes" because they have no impact on results.
Low voter turnout amid Sunday's inclement weather — the second-worst turnout ever, at 62.49 percent — also resulted in many candidates being returned despite the support of just a tiny portion of their local electorate.