General elections were held in Rhodesia, renamed the year before from Southern Rhodesia, on 7 May 1965. The result was a victory for the ruling Rhodesian Front, which won 50 of the 65 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia. Later in the year, the government made a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI).
Electoral system The election was held using two electoral rolls, an A roll, which was largely white (95,208 whites and 2,256 black Africans)7 May 1965 House of Assembly Election African Elections Database and a B roll, which was largely African. Although both rolls could vote for all 65 seats, A roll votes were given higher weighting for the 50 constituency seats, and B roll votes higher weighting for the 15 district seats.
Campaign Two parties contested the elections; the Rhodesian Front ran in all 50 constituency seats (in 22 of which it was unopposed) but no district seats. The Rhodesia Party ran in both the constituency and district seats.
Results PartyConstituencyDistrictTotalseats+/−A rollB rollSeatsA rollB rollSeatsVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes% Rhodesian Front28,17579.3220628.6150 50+15 Rhodesia Party6,38117.9650570.14012,93642.1375452.251010New Independents9642.7140.56017,77057.8768947.7555+4Total35,520100.00720100.005030,706100.001,443100.0015650Valid votes35,52098.8672082.10 30,70686.981,44388.20Invalid/blank votes4111.1415717.904,59513.0219311.80Total votes35,931100.00877100.0035,301100.001,636100.00Registered voters/turnout97,28436.911,5777.597,28436.211,57714.0Source: Sternberger et al.Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1678
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