Electoral results for the district of Semaphore

This is a list of election results for the electoral district of Semaphore in South Australian elections.

Members for Semaphore

Member		Party	Term
	Albert Thompson	Labor	1938–1946
	Harold Tapping	Labor	1946–1964
	Reg Hurst	Labor	1964–1973
	Jack Olson	Labor	1973–1979
	Norm Peterson	Independent	1979–1993

Election results

Elections in the 1980s

1989 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Norm Peterson	7,210	40.0	-1.7
	Labor	Kevin Foley	6,069	33.7	-7.3
	Liberal	Terence Daviess	3,655	20.2	+3.9
	Democrats	Eric Mack	1,097	6.1	+5.1
Total formal votes			18,031	97.3	+0.2
Informal votes			494	2.7	-0.2
Turnout			18,525	94.5	+0.1
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Kevin Foley	12,712	70.5	-4.5
	Liberal	Terence Daviess	5,319	29.5	+4.5
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Norm Peterson	11,319	62.8	+5.5
	Labor	Kevin Foley	6,712	37.2	-5.5
	Independent hold		Swing	+5.5

1985 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labor	Norm Peterson	7,226	41.7	-3.3
	Labor	Rod Sawford	7,104	41.0	+15.0
	Liberal	Mark Laing	2,831	16.3	-11.7
	Democrats	F Goncalves	177	1.0	+1.0
Total formal votes			17,338	97.1
Informal votes			526	2.9
Turnout			17,864	94.4
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent Labor	Norm Peterson	9,939	57.3
	Labor	Rod Sawford	7,399	42.7
	Independent Labor hold		Swing	N/A

1982 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Norm Peterson	7,915	46.8	+15.1
	Labor	Peter Bicknell	6,462	38.2	+2.3
	Liberal	Macleay Lawrie	2,244	13.3	-14.7
	Democrats	Peter Gagliardi	295	1.7	-2.7
Total formal votes			16,916	94.9	+0.5
Informal votes			910	5.1	-0.5
Turnout			17,826	93.4	-1.2
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Norm Peterson	10,207	60.3	-1.9
	Labor	Peter Bicknell	6,709	39.7	+1.9
	Independent hold		Swing	-1.9

Elections in the 1970s

1979 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	George Apap	5,778	35.9	-34.9
	Independent Labor	Norm Peterson	5,106	31.7	+31.7
	Liberal	Mac Lawrie	4,500	28.0	+0.9
	Democrats	Dean Richards	715	4.4	+4.4
Total formal votes			16,099	94.4	-2.7
Informal votes			957	5.6	+2.7
Turnout			17,056	94.6	+1.4
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent Labor	Norm Peterson	10,022	62.2	+62.2
	Labor	George Apap	6,077	37.8	-34.4
	Independent Labor gain from Labor		Swing	N/A

1977 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Jack Olson	11,601	70.8	+0.3
	Liberal	Terence Hanson	4,447	27.1	+11.1
	Socialist	J Mitchell	343	2.1	+2.1
Total formal votes			16,391	97.1
Informal votes			481	2.9
Turnout			16,872	93.2
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Jack Olson	11,833	72.2	-0.3
	Liberal	Terence Hanson	4,558	27.8	+0.3
	Labor hold		Swing	-0.3

1975 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Jack Olson	11,813	69.9	-2.8
	Liberal	Willem Van Wyk	2,732	16.2	-7.4
	Liberal Movement	Rodney Sporn	2,348	13.9	+13.9
Total formal votes			16,893	94.8	-0.9
Informal votes			929	5.2	+0.9
Turnout			17,822	95.1	+0.3
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Jack Olson	12,045	71.3	-4.7
	Liberal	Willem Van Wyk	4,848	28.7	+4.7
	Labor hold		Swing	-4.7

1973 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Reg Hurst	11,472	72.7	-1.9
	Liberal and Country	John Howarth	3,729	23.6	-1.8
	Socialist	Keith Waye	576	3.7	+3.7
Total formal votes			15,777	95.7	-1.8
Informal votes			701	4.3	+1.8
Turnout			16,478	94.8	+0.2
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Reg Hurst	11,991	76.0	+1.4
	Liberal and Country	John Howarth	3,786	24.0	-1.4
	Labor hold		Swing	+1.4

1970 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Reg Hurst	11,428	74.6
	Liberal and Country	Reginald Appelkamp	3,884	25.4
Total formal votes			15,312	97.5
Informal votes			389	2.5
Turnout			15,701	94.6
	Labor hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1968 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Reg Hurst	15,613	69.6	-8.5
	Liberal and Country	Reginald Appelkamp	6,076	27.1	+27.1
	Social Credit	Edward Wright	731	3.3	-5.4
Total formal votes			22,520	97.0	+2.1
Informal votes			692	3.0	-2.1
Turnout			23,112	95.1	-0.4
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Reg Hurst	15,978	71.3	-0.7
	Liberal and Country	Reginald Appelkamp	6,442	28.7	+28.7
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

1965 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Reg Hurst	16,430	78.1	-21.9
	Democratic Labor	Charles Coffey	2,747	13.1	+13.1
	Social Credit	George Heritage	1,821	8.7	+8.7
Total formal votes			21,028	94.9
Informal votes			1,116	5.1
Turnout			22,144	95.5
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Reg Hurst	17,341	82.5	-17.5
	Democratic Labor	Charles Coffey	3,687	17.5	+17.5
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

1962 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Harold Tapping	unopposed
	Labor hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

1959 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Harold Tapping	18,246	92.2	-7.8
	Communist	James Mitchell	1,539	7.8	+7.8
Total formal votes			19,785	94.4
Informal votes			1,166	5.6
Turnout			20,951	94.1
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

1956 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Harold Tapping	unopposed
	Labor hold		Swing

1953 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Harold Tapping	19,043	87.6	+7.1
	Independent	Roy Luckman	2,693	12.4	+12.4
Total formal votes			21,736	95.4	+1.2
Informal votes			1,037	4.6	-1.2
Turnout			22,773	93.9	+1.8
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

1950 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Harold Tapping	15,173	80.5	-19.5
	Independent	Joseph Talbot	3,681	19.5	+19.5
Total formal votes			18,854	94.2
Informal votes			1,155	5.8
Turnout			20,009	92.1
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1940s

1947 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Harold Tapping	unopposed
	Labor hold		Swing

1944 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Albert Thompson	unopposed
	Labor hold		Swing

1941 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Albert Thompson	3,883	64.3	+5.9
	Independent	H J Harden	2,158	35.7	+35.7
Total formal votes			6,041	96.6	-1.0
Informal votes			214	3.4	+1.0
Turnout			6,255	38.4	-17.8
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

1938 South Australian state election: Semaphore

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Albert Thompson	4,849	58.4
	Independent	Charles Grant	1,261	15.2
	Independent	Harry Bray	1,211	14.6
	Independent	Herbert Guthrie	984	11.8
Total formal votes			8,305	97.6
Informal votes			203	2.4
Turnout			8,508	56.2
	Labor hold		Swing