1896 South Australian colonial election

1896 South Australian colonial election

25 April – 2 May 1896

All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
(28 seats needed for a majority)
Registered137,747
Turnout66.3% ( 1.3 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
IND
NDL
Leader N/A Unknown John McPherson
Party Independent National Defence United Labor
Leader since N/A N/A 23 February 1892 (1892-02-23)
Leader's seat N/A N/A East Adelaide
Last election 26 seats 18 seats 10 seats
Seats before 22 22 10
Seats won 24 18 12
Seat change 2 4 2
Popular vote 72,676 49,200 39,107
Percentage 45.2% 30.6% 24.3%
Swing 13.8 pp 8.4 pp 5.5 pp

Premier before election

Charles Kingston

Elected Premier

Charles Kingston

The 1896 South Australian colonial election was held between 25 April and 2 May 1896 to elect members to the 15th Parliament of South Australia. All 54 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 1893 election) were up for re-election. It was the first election in Australia in which women could vote, following the passing of the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894 two years prior.

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 27 multi-member districts consisting of two seats each. Suffrage extended to all persons (including Aboriginals) over 21 years of age, unless they were "attainted or convicted of treason or felony".