1868 South Australian colonial election

1868 South Australian colonial election

6 April – 4 May 1868
All 36 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
Leader Henry Ayers Leader's seat Legislative Council
Premier before election Henry Ayers Elected Premier Henry Ayers

The 1868 South Australian colonial election was held between 6 April and 4 May 1868 to elect members to the 5th Parliament of South Australia. All 36 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 1865 election) were up for re-election.

The election used non-compulsory plurality block voting, in which electors voted for as many candidates as they wished. Members of the House of Assembly were elected to 18 multi-member districts consisting of two seats each. Suffrage extended to men (including Aboriginals) over 21 years of age, unless they were "attainted or convicted of treason or felony".

No parties or solid groupings would be formed until after the 1890 election, which resulted in frequent changes of the Premier. If the incumbent Premier lost sufficient support through a successful motion of no confidence at any time, he would tender his resignation to the Governor, which would result in another member being elected and sworn in by the Governor as the next Premier.

Results

House of Assembly

House of Assembly (BV) – Turnout N/A (Non-CV)

Party			Votes			Seats
			Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Seats	Change
	Independent		18,070	100.0	±0.0	36	0
Total			18,070	100.0	–	36
Registered voters			23,982	–	–
Source: ECSA[1]

See also

• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1868–1870

References

1. Jaencsh, Dean (March 2007). "History of South Australian Elections, 1857–2006, House of Assembly, Volume 1" (PDF). pp. 48–50 – via Internet Archive.

• "Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836–2007" (PDF). Parliament of South Australia. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2011.