1988 Australian referendum (Fair Elections)

The Constitution Alteration (Fair Elections) Bill 1988,[1] was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to enshrine the principle that each elector's vote should have equal value in Australia, also referred to as one vote, one value, including in states and territories. It was put to voters for approval in a referendum held on 3 September 1988.

1988 Australian Fair Elections referendum
3 September 1988 (1988-09-03)
A Proposed Law: To alter the Constitution to provide for fair and democratic parliamentary elections throughout Australia.

Do you approve of this proposed alteration?
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 3,538,817 37.59%
No 5,874,558 62.41%
Valid votes 9,413,375 98.70%
Invalid or blank votes 124,350 1.30%
Total votes 9,537,725 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 10,362,959 92.04%

Question

A Proposed Law: To alter the Constitution to provide for fair and democratic parliamentary elections throughout Australia.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?

The proposal was to vary existing provisions of the Constitution as follows (removed text stricken through; substituted text in bold):[2]

Section 8 Qualification of electors
Subject to this Constitution, the qualification of electors of senators shall be in each State or Territory that which is prescribed by this Constitution, or by the Parliament as the qualification for electors of members of the House of Representatives; but in the choosing of senators each elector shall vote only once.
Section 25 Provision as to races disqualified from voting
For the purposes of the last section, if by the law of any State all persons of any race are disqualified from voting at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State, then, in reckoning the number of the people of the State or of the Commonwealth, persons of that race resident in that State shall not be counted.
Section 29 Electoral divisions
Until the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise provides, the Parliament of any State may make laws for determining the divisions in each State for which members of the House of Representatives may be chosen, and the number of members to be chosen for each division. A division shall not be formed out of parts of different States.
In the absence of other provision, each State shall be one electorate.
(1) Subject to this Constitution, the Parliament may make laws providing for electoral divisions for which members of the House of Representatives may be chosen and fixing the number of members to be chosen for each division
(2) A division shall not be formed out of parts of different States
(3) A division may be formed out of an area comprising two or more areas each of which is a Territory or part of a Territory
Section 30 Qualification of electors
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall be in each State that which is prescribed by the law of the State as the qualification of electors of the more numerous House of Parliament of the State; but in the choosing of members each elector shall vote only once.
Subject to this Constitution, the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall be, in each State or Territory, that which is prescribed by the Parliament.
Section 41 Right of electors of States
No adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.

The proposal was to add the following new provisions to the Constitution:[2]

Section 107A Election of State Parliaments
(1) A House of the Parliament of a State shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the State
(2) Subject to this Constitution, the qualification of electors of members of a House of the Parliament of the State shall be that which is prescribed by the laws of the State
Section 122A Election of certain Territory legislatures
(1) The legislature of a Territory forming part of Australia or a combination of such Territories shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the Territory or Territories
(2) Subject to this Constitution and to any law made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, the qualification of electors of members of the legislature shall be that which is prescribed by the laws of the Territory or Territories
CHAPTER VIA FAIR ELECTIONS
Interpretation.
124A In this Chapter
'election', means an election for choosing
(a) members of the House of Representatives for an electoral region,
(b) members of a House of the Parliament of a State, or
(c) members of the legislature of a Territory forming part of Australia or a combination of such Territories, otherwise than for the purpose of filling casual vacancies,
'electoral region' means
(a) a State or Territory, or
(b) an area comprising two or more areas each of which is a Territory or part of a Territory,
'fair distribution' means a determination of electoral divisions in accordance with section one hundred and twenty-four C
Votes to have equal value.
124B (1) In
(a) an election held in an electoral division, or
(b) an election held in an electoral region that is one electorate;
the method of voting shall be such that, with respect to the votes of all electors in the division, or in the electorate, as the case may be, votes shall not be weighted according to different classes of electors
(2) In this section, 'election' includes an election to choose senators
Fair distributions of electoral divisions.
124C (1) Where a law provides for electoral divisions in an electoral region, the divisions shall be determined so that the number of electors in each division does not depart to a greater extent than one-tenth more or one-tenth less from the number calculated under subsection (2)
(2) For the purposes of subsection (I), a number, in relation to a particular electoral division, shall be calculated by
(a) dividing the total number of electors in all the electoral divisions in the electoral region by the total number of members to be chosen in all those divisions, and
(b) multiplying the result by the number of members to be chosen for that electoral division
(3) If, in relation to a determination of electoral divisions
(a) no proceedings challenging the determination have been instituted as provided by this Chapter, or
(b) any proceedings so instituted have been withdrawn or dismissed, the determination shall be taken to have been made in accordance with this section
Elections in divisions.
124D (1) An election in an electoral region may be held in electoral divisions only if
(a) the divisions have been determined by a fair distribution made after the commencement of this Chapter and not more than seven years before the election, and
(b) subsection (2) does not apply in relation to the electoral divisions
(2) Subject to subsection (3), this subsection applies to electoral divisions for an election if, on the last day of each of any two or more successive months since the last fair distribution before that election, the numbers of the electors in more than one-third of the divisions were such that, if the divisions had been determined with those numbers of electors, the determination would not have been a fair distribution
(3) In ascertaining whether subsection (2) applies in relation to electoral divisions for an election, a particular month shall be disregarded if the last day of the month occurs within twenty-six weeks before the date of expiry, by effluxion of time, of the terms of service of all or any of the members of the House concerned
(4) This section does not apply to an election held before the end of one year after the commencement of this Chapter
(5) In this section
'House' means
(a) the House of Representatives,
(b) a House of the Parliament of a State, or
(c) a chamber (by whatever name called) of the legislature of a Territory or combination of Territories,
'month' means one of the twelve months of the year;
Elections where electoral region to be one electorate.
124E (1) Where an election in an electoral region is not to be held in electoral divisions or, if so held, is or would be contrary to section one hundred and twenty-four D, the region shall be one electorate
(2) Where a region is to be one electorate, an election in the electorate shall be held
(a) if the election is for the purpose of choosing members of the House of Representatives—as the Parliament provides, or
(b) if the election is for the purpose of choosing members of a House of the Parliament of a State of the legislature of a Territory or a combination of Territories—in accordance with the law of the State, Territory or Territories, as the case requires, or, if there is no such law, as the Parliament provides;
but so that the method of choosing those members shall be a system of proportional representation
Casual vacancies.
124F Nothing in this Constitution prevents the filling of a casual vacancy in the membership of
(a) a House of the Parliament of a State, or
(b) the legislature of a Territory forming part of Australia or a combination of such Territories, in the manner provided by the Parliament of that State or, subject to any law made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, by that legislature, as the case requires
Right to challenge determinations of electoral divisions.
124G (1) Subject to subsection (2), a determination of electoral divisions may be challenged by an elector in a court of competent jurisdiction on the ground that the determination was not a fair distribution
(2) An elector shall not institute proceedings under subsection (1) after the end of forty days after both of the following have been notified to the public, namely
(a) the results of the determination, and
(b) all statistics necessary to ascertain whether or not the determination was a fair distribution
(3) In this section, 'elector', in relation to a determination of electoral divisions, means a person whose name is on a roll of electors qualified to vote at an election in those divisions
Right to vote.
124H (1) Laws prescribing the qualifications of electors for elections shall be such that each Australian citizen who
(a) complies with reasonable conditions prescribed by those laws as to residence and enrolment, and
(b) has reached the age of eighteen years, is entitled to vote, subject to any disqualification prescribed by those laws as to persons who
(c) because of unsoundness of mind, are incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting, or
(d) are undergoing imprisonment for an offence
(2) If
(a) a person applies to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order under this subsection, and
(b) the person would be qualified as an elector as provided by this section but for the fact that the relevant law is inconsistent with this section, the court may order that the person shall be enrolled, and is entitled to vote, as if the person were so qualified
(3) This section does not apply in relation to an election held before the end of one year after the commencement of this Chapter
Electors to have only one vote.
124J In the choosing of
(a) senators,
(b) members of the House of Representatives,
(c) members of a House of Parliament of a State, or
(d) members of the legislature of a Territory forming part of Australia or a combination of such Territories,
each elector shall vote only once.

Results
Result [3][4]
State Electoral roll Ballots issued For Against Informal
Vote  % Vote  %
New South Wales 3,564,856 3,297,246 1,159,713 35.57 2,100,604 64.43 36,929
Victoria 2,697,096 2,491,183 981,508 40.12 1,465,119 59.88 44,556
Queensland 1,693,247 1,552,293 691,492 44.83 850,979 55.17 9,822
South Australia 937,974 873,511 263,006 30.61 596,102 69.39 14,403
Western Australia 926,636 845,209 266,639 32.02 566,145 67.98 12,425
Tasmania 302,324 282,785 80,608 28.89 198,372 71.11 3,805
Australian Capital Territory [5] 166,131 149,128 76,815 51.99 70,937 48.01 1,376
Northern Territory [5] 74,695 56,370 23,763 42.99 31,512 57.01 1,095
Total for Commonwealth 10,362,959 9,537,725 3,538,817 37.59 5,874,558 62.41 124,350
Results Obtained a majority in no state and an overall minority of 2,335,741 votes. Not carried

Discussion

This was the second unsuccessful referendum that sought to enshrine proportional representation in Australia, also referred to as one vote, one value and prevent gerrymandering by the use of electoral malapportionment.[3]

Proportional representation results [3]
Question NSW Vic Qld SA WA Tas ACT NT States in favour Voters in favour Result
(31) Democratic Elections 50.5% 47.7% 43.7% 44.1% 42.9% 40.8% — — 1:5 47.2% Not carried
(40) 1988 Fair elections 35.6% 40.1% 44.8% 30.6% 32.0% 28.9% 52.0% 43.0% 0:6 37.6% Not carried

See also

References
  1. Constitution Alteration (Fair Elections) Bill 1988 (Cth)
  2. "Notification of particulars of writs for referendums". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette Special. No. S212. 25 July 1988. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 15 November 2019 – via Trove.
  3. Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) "Part 5 - Referendums and Plebiscites - Referendum results". Parliamentary Library of Australia.
  4. "Result of referendum with respect to Fair Elections". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. S324. 27 October 1988. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 23 October 2021 – via Trove.
  5. Following the 1977 referendum, votes cast in the territories count towards the national total, but are not counted toward any state total.

Further reading
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