While a result in the Senate is still a long way off, the early strong showing from demoted ALP Senator Lisa Singh has prompted reflection on the party's pre-selection process.

As of Saturday afternoon, Lisa Singh, who was 6th on the ticket had almost 3,000 below-the-line votes.

That is about six times more than Senator Anne Urquhart, who was first on the ticket.

Meanwhile, ALP Senate candidate John Short defended his campaign in light of his tiny fraction of the below-the-lines votes.

Mr Short, a well-known union leader in Tasmania, was asked to explain why so far he had only 124 below-the-line votes.

"Obviously some people have gone out specifically to get people to vote below the line," he said.

"Me and other people were trying to make sure people voted above the line."

Senator Singh benefited from a grassroots campaign led by Labor supporters unhappy she was relegated to 6th on the ticket.

The unaligned senator has previously blamed factional deals for her demotion on the ballot.

Mr Short said he had had little to do with her.

"Over the last five, six or seven years I've probably only spoken to Lisa three times, but it's nothing personal," he said.

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Late on Friday, Launceston-based Labor senator Helen Polley posted a photo on Twitter of what she described as the "Tassie Senate Labor Team".

Senator Singh was not in it.

One tweeter said, "where's Lisa Singh? she's the only face I know."

Another said: "Have you seen Lisa's BTL (below the line) vote? It's massive."

Senator Polley told the ABC the photo was taken after a meeting in Canberra and Senator Singh was not there at the time.

Mr Short was adamant Labor ran a good campaign and was still hopeful he would be elected.

"We still don't know what the result is going to be, but we're over the moon we've got rid of three Liberal MPs," he said.

'It would be wonderful for me personally, but if it doesn't happen you know it's not the end of the world."

ALP "manipulated democratic process" says former senator

Former Queensland Labor senator Margaret Reynolds, who lives in Tasmania, said the process which saw Senator Singh demoted was flawed.

Senator Singh's 6th spot was considered by many to be an unwinnable. ( ABC News: Alex Blucher )

"Those of us on the inside know that there were certain things that have happened that perhaps shouldn't have happened," she said,

"John Short, who was prepared to come in and say 'look I'll have a go,' but [to put] a proven performer like Lisa Singh up against [him], which is just silly.

"It would have been perhaps more sensible to guarantee the support of the community by placing Lisa Singh further up the ticket.

"This sort of manipulation of the democratic process is concerning and I think the party in Tasmania needs to look very closely if it wants to build trust with its members and its community."

Both Mrs Reynolds and University of Tasmania political lecturer Glenn Kefford agreed before the next Senate election Tasmanian Labor needed to rethink how it conducted Senate selections.

"There will be some reflection in the Labor party on the way below the line votes have worked, but whether there's actually change coming that's a big question for them," Mr Kefford said.

ALP Tasmanian Branch state secretary Karelle Logan declined to answer specific questions and instead said in a statement so far the Senate result was "fantastic".

"Only 5 per cent of the below the line votes in the Senate have been counted, so we will wait for the complete results," she said.

The Liberals and ALP have cemented four Senate seats, while Jacqui Lambie and the Greens have secured one each, leaving two undecided.