1997 Australian Constitutional Convention election

The 1997 Australian Constitutional Convention election was held between 3 November and 9 December 1997 to elect 76 of the 152 members of the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention, which took place from 2 to 13 February the following year.^[1]

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1997 Australian Constitutional Convention election

3 November – 9 December 1997
elected members
76 of the 152 seats in the Constitutional Convention
Turnout	5,625,754 (46.92%)
Party Vote % Seats Australian Republican Movement 30.5% 27 No Republic – ACM 22.5% 19 Ted Mack 4.0% 2 Clem Jones Team 3.4% 3 Real Republic 3.1% 2 Safeguard the People 2.7% 2 Australian Monarchist League 2.4% 3 Constitutional Monarchists 1.9% 2 Christian Democratic Party 1.5% 1 Elect the President 1.4% 1 A Just Republic 1.3% 2 Shooters Party 0.8% 1 Women for a Just Republic 0.7% 1 Queenslanders for a Republic 0.4% 1 Greens (NSW) 0.3% 1 Republic4U – The Youth Ticket 0.2% 1 ETHOS – Elect the Head of State 0.0% 1 Ungrouped 14.2% 6 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Close

The election was held via voluntary postal ballot, mailed to all enrolled voters between 3 and 14 November. It was modeled on elections to the Australian Senate and conducted via single transferable vote using group voting tickets. Short statements from candidates and groups, as well as unique identification numbers for each candidate, were included in the election package. Voters could number a single box above the line, either for a group ticket or an ungrouped candidate, and their preferences would be distributed according to the ticket their choice had lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission. Voters could also vote below the line by writing the unique identification numbers of candidates in a series of boxes below the line, and could fill in as many or as few as they wished.^{[1]: 11, 16}

A number of competing republican and monarchist groups ran, though only two were on the ballot in all states and territories: the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) and Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM). They emerged as the two largest groups, winning 30.5% and 22.5% of first preferences nationwide, respectively. Minor groups and ungrouped candidates took the remainder of seats: 15 were won by smaller republican groups while monarchist groups took 7. The Fred Nile Group and Shooters Party won a seat each. In addition, six ungrouped candidates were elected.

Doone Kennedy (ACM, Tasmania) and Vilma Ward (ACM, Queensland) resigned as delegates prior to the Constitutional Convention. In accordance with the provisions of the election, they were replaced by the next unelected member of their respective group who was willing to fill the vacancy. Kennedy was replaced by Edward O'Farrell (6th on the ACM ticket) and Ward was replaced by Thomas Bradley (3rd on the ACM ticket).^[1]: 23