The 1995 Australian Capital Territory electoral system referendum was a referendum held on 18 February 1995, asking voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) whether to entrench their current electoral system. The referendum took place alongside the 1995 ACT election.
At a referendum in 1992, voters were asked to choose between the proportional Hare–Clark system or single-member electorates (using preferential voting). By a comfortable margin, voters chose Hare–Clark, which came into effect for the 1995 election.
The 1995 referendum asked voters whether they approved entrenching the principles of Hare–Clark. The "Yes" vote received 65% of the vote and the referendum was passed.
Background.
On 8 December 1994, the "Proportional Representation (Hare–Clark) Entrenchment Bill" was passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly. If passed by voters at the 1995 referendum, it would entrench the principles of Hare–Clark − meaning that elements of the system would only be able to be changed if a majority of voters supported a change at a future referendum, or if a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly voted in favour of a change.
Result.
With 65% of the "Yes" vote (just 0.3% less than what Hare–Clark received in 1992), the referendum was passed.
For a referendum to pass, it needed 50% of support of enrolled voters, which meant that informal votes and non-voters essentially counted as votes against, meaning around 58% of formal votes were usually needed for a proposal to pass. The result was assured on 19 February 1995 when the 97,695th vote for Hare–Clark was counted.
The referendum, like the election, was conducted by Elections ACT.
References.
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