Greens candidate Delanie Sky and Nick Xenophon Team candidate Rod Bloomfield each decided to run an open ticket – this means their how-to-vote cards list them as first preference, but they do not specify how voters should allocate preferences two to seven. 

Part of Mr Bloomfield's form only specifies preferences up to six.

For the House of Representatives, where voters will choose the member for Calare, numbering the boxes to any less than seven will result in an informal vote – it won't count.

The Greens say as a result, volunteers manning the prepolling booths are educating people on how to vote.

One might question whether this could come at the expense of pushing their policies.

Numbering the candidates from one to seven on the how-to-vote card would at least show voters how to vote formally.

While an open ticket gives the impression of greater choice, most people know how-to-vote cards are not obligatory and they can change their preferences based on how they want their vote to flow.

This confusion has mainly resulted because of changes to Senate voting arrangements, where the minimum requirement was numbering one party above the line.

At least six boxes are now required, or 12 below the line.

The Australian Electoral Commission will still count any single-vote Senate papers as valid, but the real question will be how accurate this election result will be.

Informal votes in the House of Representatives could mean the eventual member for Calare will not win with the intended majority, or may not even be the intended person.

Meanwhile, those who vote one above the line in the Senate will have their vote exhausted after it has reached the last candidate in that group.

The former system had its flaws because only the well-researched voter would know how their vote would flow through the complicated preference deals, but the new system could still generate the same result the Coalition and the Greens were trying to avoid: candidates elected to the Senate with a low primary vote.