The term 'absolute majority' refers to a majority of the total number of members and senators, not just a majority of the members and senators who happen to be present at a joint sitting.
More than 50% of the formal votes in an electorate. Ballot A method of secret voting.
More than 50% of the formal vote.
More than half (ie, 50 percent + 1). See also: simple majority
When the number of members voting for a proposition is more than half of the total number of seats for members of the Parliament or, in the case of a committee or sub-committee, more than half of the number of members of that committee or sub-committee. In a Parliament with 129 seats, 65 votes would be required to obtain an absolute majority. An example of a motion which requires such a majority is one that seeks to remove from office the Presiding Officer or a deputy Presiding Officer (rule 3.5.2).
In South Australia a candidate for House of Assembly elections must receive more than half the formal votes - at least 50% + 1 vote to be elected. This is called an absolute majority. See Preferential Voting.
An absolute majority requires two thirds of the people who vote to vote in favour of the issue being debated.
Absolute majority in American parlance is a supermajoritarian voting requirement which is stricter than a simple majority. It means that more than half of all the members of a group, including those absent and those present but not voting, must vote in favour of a proposition in order for that proposition to be passed. In other than American usage "absolute majority" means more than half, as opposed to simply the greatest number, which need not be, which is referred to as a "relative" or "simple majority", the concept being referred to in American usage as a "plurality".