With Rudd still warm in his grave and Liberal setting up camp atop the rubble of the democratic landslide that buried him, you’d think this week would’ve been an exultant celebration for all Liberal-inclined political obsessives. The justifiably jubilant celebrations have somewhat caused us to forget, however, that there were indeed some casualties of war this election.

Having campaigned with south-east Melburnian Liberal candidate John Nguyen for the past three months, watching the vote count build against him was an excruciating blow – even more so for him, it goes without saying. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know this wonderful candidate over the last few months, and I can safely say that in terms of dedication to the cause, Mr Nguyen is unparalleled. His aspiration was always secondary to his concern for the people of Chisholm, which was genuine. Knowing all that John had given up to pursue a second attempt at the elusive democratic election – a partnership at renowned accounting firm Ernst & Young; 14 months leave without pay – all whilst working near-12 hour days, seven days a week for this period, it frustrates me to no end to know that a mere 2,000+ votes currently bar him from the House of Representatives.

Augmenting the pain of the imminent defeat was the fact that if the election had depended solely on the primary vote count, John would’ve succeeded Labor MP Anna Burke in a stunning and hard-fought victory… the difference in the primaries sitting at almost 3,000 votes.

Alas, the voting system isn’t thus.

And my axe isn’t the only one being ground against the preferential voting system this election. The seemingly imminent senatorial victories of minor party candidates such as the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party‘s Ricky Muir, the Palmer United Party‘s Glenn Lazarus in Queensland, and Jacqui Lambie in Tasmania, as well as a candidate for the Australian Sports Party in Western Australia, and a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party in New South Wales begs the question, Does the preferential voting system really represent the popular democratic will?

The short answer is no.

The Australian Sports Party reportedly secured only 225 primary votes out of a possible 123,000 in Western Australia, yet look to be on track to secure a seat in Western Australia. In my eyes, this is a failure of the system.

But perhaps I’m just a sore loser.

Anyway, I digress. I’m so thankful to the team at John Nguyen’s Campaign HQ in Mt Waverley for being so accommodating these last few months. It’s been an educational and enriching experience, and one I won’t soon forget.