An alliance between micro-parties and independents could result in the election of aFluoride Free WA representative in the Upper House from fewer than 1000 votes, electoral analysts believe.

The deal, which The West Australian understands was finalised by preference broker Glenn Druery at the weekend, includes more than half the groups contesting the East Metropolitan Region putting Fluoride Free WA second on their group voting tickets.

ABC electoral analyst Antony Green has suggested Fluoride Free WA candidate John Watt could be elected off 0.2 per cent, or 750 votes, thanks to the elaborate web of preferences from other micro-parties and independents. “With more than 50 candidates in every region, very few people will vote below the line,” Mr Green said.

“Under this system, the more important point is what parties do with their preferences.

“If a party gets any sort of preference vote, once the snowball of preference harvesting gets under way, you never know who’s going to get elected.”

Play Video Labor has pledged to overhaul WA's parole laws so serial killers and mass murderers would not be released The West Australian Video Labor has pledged to overhaul WA's parole laws so serial killers and mass murderers would not be released

The Fluoride Free party, registered last month, aims to stop water fluoridation in WA.

Before achieving that, the party wants to implement policies including warnings on water bills and council and Health Department websites about using fluoridation for infants’ formula, and free fluoride-free water in every childcare centre, hospital, senior nursing home and a source in every council.

Party secretary Hayley Green said the party had done what was needed to get fluoride out of water. “We’ve stuck together with some of the smaller parties, and we’ve thought we’re not going to be bullied around by the bigger parties,” she said.

“We’ve done what we’ve had to do, like the rest of them.”

Mr Watt said the deal had been “fantastic”.

Analysis of group voting tickets has revealed other parties also benefit from similar deals in other regions, including the Liberal Democrats in the Agricultural Region, Vote Flux in the Mining and Pastoral Region, Family First in the North Metropolitan Region and Daylight Savings Party in the South Metropolitan region.

Mr Druery confirmed he had been involved with some parties and independents, saying minor parties needed to work together by preferencing each other before the major parties.

“For minor parties to get elected they have to be very clever and very strategic — they have to work amongst themselves before they work with the major parties,” he said. “It’s a case of united we stand, divided we don’t get elected.

“I can tell you with a fair degree of certainty, I think it’s likely that we could see more than one small party elected.”

Mr Green criticised WA’s electoral system for the Legislative Council, saying it was unstable and could be easily manipulated.

“That system should be abandoned,” he said. “The ticket voting system as it stands is not a safe electoral system. The ticket system elects people who would never have been elected if the voters gave preferences.”