ID 0657

Commonwealth Parliament, Senate election in Victoria

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

Election of 5 May 1917

Show only vote and seat summary details

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Senate enrolment and voting in Victoria

Total number of voters on the roll in this state/territory
1,184,569
Total ballots cast (may differ from number of votes in multiple voting systems)
687,935
Turnout (rate of voting in contested seats)
83.92%
Total valid votes
1,997,619
Rate of informal (invalid) voting
Not applicable

Electoral composition of the Senate for this election in Victoria

Total number of seats in the Senate
36
Total number of seats for each state
6
Number of seats for each territory
Seats to be filled at this Senate election in this state/territory
3
Casual vacancies/additional seats included in seats to be filled
0
Electoral System
Adult franchise at 21 years; multimember districts; first past the post (plurality) voting with multiple votes

Senate votes and seats won, and seats held in Victoria

Display Chart

Election held on 5 May 1917
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 %
National Party (Nationalists)  1,096,046  54.87  *  3  100.00  3  100.00  4  66.67 
Australian Labor Party  893,805  44.74  -8.66  0        2  33.33 
Votes for other than listed parties 7,768 0.39 +0.39             
Totals 1,997,619  100.00    3  100.00  3  100.00  6  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

In the table above, see the Glossary distinctions between Seats won by ticket and Seats won by party, and between Seats won by party and Seats held by party.

The use of first past the post (plurality) voting in multimember electoral districts (the states) with multiple votes for the election of of senators from 1903 to 1917, meant that the number of valid votes was much larger than the number of ballot papers cast. This voting system precludes the usual calculation of the informal vote for these elections.

The 1917 election was the first Senate election contested by the Nationalist Party (Nationalists) as the successor to the Liberal Party as the conservative party grouping opposing the Australian Labor Party.

Sources

Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, (Canberra; Australian National University Press, 1968 SBN 708112700); Commonwealth Parliament, Department of the Senate.