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Zorluk: OrtaThe Double Majority Requirement

The Australian Government proposes a change to the Constitution through a referendum. After the votes are counted, the Australian Electoral Commission announces that while a clear majority of all Australians (54%54\%) voted 'Yes', the 'Yes' vote only won in three out of the six states. Even though the residents of the territories also voted 'Yes', what is the final status of this constitutional change?

  1. The change is rejected because it failed to achieve a majority of voters in at least four states.Cevap
  2. B
    The change is accepted because a national majority of 54%54\% was achieved.
  3. C
    The change is accepted because the majority support in the territories counts toward the state requirement.

Cevap

The change is rejected because it failed to achieve a majority of voters in at least four states.
The correct answer reflects the 'double majority' rule, which is the only way to change the Australian Constitution. This rule requires two separate majorities: a majority of all voters nationwide and a majority of voters in a majority of states (at least 4 out of 6). In this scenario, while the national majority was reached (54%54\%), only 3 states supported the change, meaning the second requirement was not met.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Check the national results against the first part of the double majority rule.
The 'Yes' vote reached 54%54\%, which is more than 50%50\%. The national majority requirement is met.
The first requirement for a referendum to pass is a majority of all voters across Australia.
2
Check the state-by-state results against the second part of the double majority rule.
Only 3 out of 6 states voted 'Yes'. The rule requires a majority in at least 4 states.
The second requirement is a 'majority of states', which means at least four of the six states must have a majority 'Yes' vote.
3
Determine if territories can help meet the state-based requirement.
No. Territory votes only count toward the national total, not toward the count of states.
Under the Australian Constitution, the 'majority of states' requirement specifically refers to the six states (NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, and TAS).
4
Combine the requirements to find the final outcome.
Since only one of the two requirements was met, the referendum fails.
Both the national majority and the majority of states must be achieved for the Constitution to be altered.

Anahtar Kavram

The Double Majority Requirement

İpuçları

1
Changing the Constitution requires two different types of majorities to be met at the same time.
2
Count how many states voted 'Yes' and compare it to the requirement of 4 out of 6 states.
3
Territories count for the total national percentage, but they don't count as one of the 'four states' needed to pass a referendum.

Daha Fazla Pratik

Review how many referendums have been successful in Australian history to understand how difficult the double majority requirement makes constitutional change.
Tahmini Süre:1m 15s
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The Double Majority Requirement

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