The Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous Elections) Bill 1977, was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to enable simultaneous elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was put to voters for approval in a referendum held on 21 May 1977. Question It is proposed to alter the Constitution to ensure that Senate elections are held at the same time as House of Representatives elections. Do you approve the proposed law? Background The bill was substantially the same as the proposal that had been unsuccessful at the referendum in 1974. Despite the title, the proposal was to change the terms of senators from a fixed 6 years to 2 terms of the House of Representatives. The proposal did not expressly require elections for both houses to be held at the same time, instead it made the terms of Senators the same as for the and would give parliament the power to make laws about the time and places for elections. Yes case The yes case was that because elections for the houses were out of alignment, there could be 4 elections in the next 4 years. If the Senate used its power to force an election, half the senators would also face elections. No case The s had campaigned against the 1974 referendum on the basis that the title of the bill was a fraud and was designed to mislead voters from the real change which was to alter the Constitution so that the terms of Senators would be two terms of the House of Representatives. The no case in this referendum took a similar line, that the proposal didn't require simultaneous elections and instead was a proposal to enable governments to dissolve half the Senate. In Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen the National Party Premier campaigned against the proposal on the basis that it would permit the senate to be abolished. Results Proposed changes to the text of the constitution The proposal was to alter the constitution as follows (removed text stricken through; substituted text in bold): Section 7 The senators shall be chosen for a term of six years, and The names of the senators chosen for each State shall be certified by the Governor to the Governor‑General. Section 9 The Parliament of a State may make laws for determining the times and places of elections of senators for the State. Section 12 (1.) The Governor of any