While the principle of ‘one vote, one value’ is commonplace in contemporary discussions around elections, it has not always been the case. Victoria and other states in Australia only relatively recently legislated to end significant disparities in the size of electorates.

Malapportionment—large differences between the numbers of voters in electorates—has existed at different points in Victoria’s history. While changes occurred in the 1950s, it was only the electoral reforms of the 1980s that greatly reduced the extent of malapportionment across Legislative Assembly districts.