Australian referendum, 1977 (Simultaneous Elections)
historyConstitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) 1977 proposed for the second time that the Constitution be altered to ensure that elections for both houses of parliament occurred simultaneously. The question was put to a referendum in the Australian referendum, 1977.
Results
It is proposed to alter the Constitution to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections.
Do you approve the proposed law?
{| cellSpacing="0" cellPadding="4" border="1" |+ Result |----- | align="left" rowSpan="2" | State || align="right" rowSpan="2" | On rolls | align="right" rowSpan="2" | Ballots issued | align="middle" colSpan="2" | For | align="middle" colSpan="2" | Against | align="right" rowSpan="2" | Informal |----- | align="middle" | || align="middle" | % | align="middle" | || align="middle" | % |----- | New South Wales || align="right" | 3,007,511 | align="right" | 2,774,388 | align="right" | 1,931,775 || align="middle" | %70.71 | align="right" | 800,331 | align="middle" | %29.29 || align="right" | 42,282 |----- | Victoria || align="right" | 2,252,831 | align="right" | 2,083,136 | align="right" | 1,325,708 || align="middle" | %65.00 | align="right" | 713,929 | align="middle" | %35.00 || align="right" | 43,499 |----- | Queensland || align="right" | 1,241,426 | align="right" | 1,138,842 | align="right" | 534,968 || align="middle" | %47.51 | align="right" | 590,942 | align="middle" | %52.49 || align="right" | 12,932 |----- | South Australia || align="right" | 799,243 | align="right" | 745,990 | align="right" | 480,827 || align="middle" | %65.99 | align="right" | 247,762 | align="middle" | %34.01 || align="right" | 17,401 |----- | Western Australia || align="right" | 682,291 | align="right" | 617,463 | align="right" | 292,344 || align="middle" | %48.47 | align="right" | 310,765 | align="middle" | %51.53 || align="right" | 14,354 |----- | Tasmania || align="right" | 259,081 || align="right" | 246,063 | align="right" | 82,785 || align="middle" | %34.26 | align="right" | 158,818 | align="middle" | %65.74 || align="right" | 4,460 |----- | Total for Commonwealth || noWrap align="right" | 8,242,383 | noWrap align="right" | 7,605,882 | noWrap align="right" | 4,648,407 || noWrap align="middle" | %62.22 | noWrap align="right" | 2,822,547 | noWrap align="middle" | %37.78 || noWrap align="right" | 134,928 |----- | colSpan="8" | Obtained majority in three States and an overall majority of 1,825,860 votes. |----- | align="right" colSpan="8" | Not carried |}
Discussion
This was one of several occasions that the double majority rule resulted in a referendum with a clear 'Yes' overall majority not being approved, as it failed to receive approval in a majority of States. The margin of failure, 9211 votes (in WA), made it the third closest referendum result in Australian history. Even the support of both major parties and most of the media was not enough to ensure success.