Australian referendum, 1977 (Simultaneous Elections)

Constitution 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?

Result

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Informal
				%		%
New South Wales	3,007,511	2,774,388	1,931,775	%70.71	800,331	%29.29	42,282
Victoria	2,252,831	2,083,136	1,325,708	%65.00	713,929	%35.00	43,499
Queensland	1,241,426	1,138,842	534,968	%47.51	590,942	%52.49	12,932
South Australia	799,243	745,990	480,827	%65.99	247,762	%34.01	17,401
Western Australia	682,291	617,463	292,344	%48.47	310,765	%51.53	14,354
Tasmania	259,081	246,063	82,785	%34.26	158,818	%65.74	4,460
Total for Commonwealth	8,242,383	7,605,882	4,648,407	%62.22	2,822,547	%37.78	134,928
Obtained majority in three States and an overall majority of 1,825,860 votes.
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.