ID 0815

Commonwealth Parliament, Senate election in South Australia

(for more information on this election see national summary for the Senate)

Election of 1 December 1984

Show only vote and seat summary details

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Senate enrolment and voting in South Australia

Total number of voters on the roll in this state/territory
906,278
Total ballots cast (may differ from number of votes in multiple voting systems)
862,369
Turnout (rate of voting in contested seats)
95.16%
Total valid votes
815,970
Rate of informal (invalid) voting
5.38%

Electoral composition of the Senate for this election in South Australia

Total number of seats in the Senate
76
Total number of seats for each state
12
Number of seats for each territory
2
Seats to be filled at this Senate election in this state/territory
7
Casual vacancies/additional seats included in seats to be filled
0
Electoral System
Adult franchise at 18 years (from 1974); multimember districts; proportional representation by the single transferable vote method (STV); compulsory preferences; above the line (group ticket) voting permitted; compulsory voting

Senate votes and seats won, and seats held in South Australia

Display Chart

Election held on 1 December 1984
Criteria for the inclusion of parties in this table are set out in the Glossary under 'listed party'

* to view table drag left or right.
Party Name First preference vote n First preference vote share % Change from previous election % Seats won by ticket n Seats won by ticket % Seats won by party n Seats won by party % Seats held by party n Seats held by party %
Australian Labor Party  340,115  41.68  -2.87  3  42.86  3  42.86  6  50.00 
Liberal Party  306,027  37.50  -2.86  3  42.86  3  42.86  5  41.67 
Australian Democrats  91,329  11.19  -0.94  1  14.29  1  14.29  1  8.33 
Nuclear Disarmament Party  37,834  4.64  *  0           
Call to Australia Party  22,429  2.75  *  0           
Independents  2,628  0.32  *  0           
Votes for other than listed parties 15,608 1.91 -1.04             
Totals 815,970  100.00    7  100.00  7  100.00  12  100.00 

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* Party did not contest previous election or did not meet criteria for listing, or contested previous election under a different party name.

Notes

See the Glossary of this website for information on Senate elections and details of the distinction between 'Seats won by ticket' and 'Seats won by party', and between 'Seats won' and 'Seats held'. The increase in the membership of the Senate from 64 to 76 (an increase from 10 to 12 senators from each state) required the election of 7 senators from each state at the 1984 election (5 existing Senate vacancies in each state and an additional 2 vacancies to bring each state delegation of senators to 12). Regular half Senate elections after 1984 are for 6 senators from each state.

Sources

Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics, 1975-1984, Rushcutters Bay, NSW: Australian National University Press, 1986 (ISBN 008033038X); Gerard Newman, Federal Election Results 1949-2001, Canberra: Commonwealth Parliament, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Information and Research Services, Research Paper 9 2001-02, 2002 (ISSN 13287478).