1974 Australian referendum (Simultaneous Elections)

Elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate of Australia are usually held simultaneously although this was a matter of convention rather than constitutional law. The Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) 1974 was an Australian referendum held in the 1974 referendums which sought to alter the Australian Constitution to enshrine simultaneous elections in the Constitution.

Question

Proposed law entitled "An Act to alter the Constitution so as to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections".

Do you approve the proposed law?

Results

Result

State	On rolls	Ballots issued	For		Against		Invalid
				%		%
New South Wales	2,834,558	2,702,903	1,359,485	51.06%	1,303,117	48.94%	40,301
Victoria	2,161,474	2,070,893	1,001,111	49.19%	1,033,969	50.81%	35,813
Queensland	1,154,762	1,098,401	481,092	44.32%	604,444	55.68%	12,865
South Australia	750,308	722,434	332,369	47.14%	372,666	52.86%	17,399
Western Australia	612,016	577,989	248,860	44.07%	315,786	55.93%	13,343
Tasmania	246,596	237,891	96,793	41.37%	137,156	58.63%	3,942
Australian Total	7,759,714	7,410,511	3,519,710	48.30%	3,767,138	51.70%	123,663
Obtained majority in one State and an overall minority of 247,428 votes.
Not carried