It's baaacck! The infamous tablecloth ballot paper of 1999 is back to haunt us all on September 7. Unless voters are careful it will be a case of twice bitten as secret deals now threaten a repeat of "fringe party mayhem" in the Senate.

Many were unsuspecting back then, but this time it's a case of voter beware because with 44 parties contesting the election in NSW alone, a small, fringe party could well succeed, despite only attracting two per cent of the vote in their own right.

In 2013, secret preferences deals have again been done between fringe parties but just which ones stand to benefit remains a mystery.