Playmander
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The Playmander was a form of electoral malapportionment in the Australian state of South Australia. The name derives from Premier Sir Thomas Playford, whose Liberal and Country League (LCL) party was able to stay in power for three decades even while losing several elections in terms of vote numbers. The Playmander was not devised by Playford, and was not a Gerrymander, but the name stuck and it was strongly associated with his long stay in power.
The electoral malappointment stemmed from the 1856 South Australian constitution, which stipulated that there were to be two rural electorates for every urban electorate. This was put in place to ensure the growth and development of a struggling early country South Australia, relatively unsettled in comparison to the area around the capital, Adelaide. Country areas typically voted for the LCL, while urban areas tended to vote for the Labor Party.
Population changes saw the situation wholly reversed from its original intention; by 1968 there were twice as many voters in urban areas than there was in the country. However, the LCL's support had managed to dwindle, staying in power after the 1962 elections only due to the support of an independent, Tom Stott. The LCL eventually lost power in 1965 to the opposition Labor party, but it was the LCL Hall Government that implemented electoral reform in 1968.
See Also: Australian electoral system
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