By DAVID BRAITHWAITECHANGES to voting for the upper house of state parliament is set to affect the electoral fortunes of smaller political parties. The Electoral Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2026, introduced into the Victorian Parliament last week, will abolish group voting tickets. This will make it harder for candidates who received a low primary vote to be elected thanks to complex preference deals. Those preferences will then flow to candidates in the order they appear below the line for each party or group. Mr Bourman’s chances of re-election are likely to be hindered by the abolishment of group voting tickets.