A referendum concerning the reduction of the members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was put to voters on 16 December 1903, in conjunction with the 1903 federal election. The referendum was conducted on the basis of optional preferential voting. However, preferences were not counted, as an overwhelming majority voted to reduce the number of members to 90.
The question The text of the question was:. As to what shall be the number of Members of the Legislative Assembly. Which of the following numbers do you prefer, and what is the order of your preference? 125 (This is the present number.) 100 90
Results The referendum was overwhelmingly in favour of reducing the number of members to 90.
+ Result Question Votes % What should be thenumber of Membersof the Legislative Assembly Maintain at 125 63,171 22.3 Reduce to 100 13,316 4.7 Reduce to 90 206,273 Total Formal 282,760 87.2 Informal 41,484 12.8 TurnoutEstimate based on a roll of 345,500 at the 1901 state election: 324,244 96.32
Aftermath The referendum did not provide how the reduction of members was to occur. Parliament was recalled to decide how to give effect to the referendum, and passed the Electorates Redistribution Act 1904 which provided the districts were to be determined by three electoral districts commissioners.. The proposed districts were published by the commissioners on 18 March 1904, and the final districts were published on 22 April 1904.
See also Referendums in Australia
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