2006 Soul Train Music Awards
The 2006 Soul Train Music Awards were held on March 18, 2006 at the Pasadena Conference Center in Pasadena, California and was hosted by Vivica Fox and Tyrese. The show marked the 20th Anniversary of the Soul Train Music Awards.


2006 South Africa Sevens
The 2006 South Africa Sevens was an international rugby sevens tournament which took place on 8–9 December at Outeniqua Park in George, Western Cape as part of the IRB Sevens World Series. The tournament was the second event of the 2006–07 season, and it was the eighth edition of the South Africa Sevens. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating the host nation South Africa by 24–17 in the final.


2006 South Africa Sevens, Series standings
New Zealand was the first team to score 1,000 all-time points in this round after beating France by 29–0 in the Cup quarter final stage.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England
The 2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England was a series of matches played in November and December 2006 in Ireland and England by South Africa national rugby union team.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England
The Springboks, coached by Jake White lost the test with Ireland, drew the series (1–1) to England and won against a World XV selection.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England, Results, First test in Dublin
A bad defeat against Ireland, that had never before scored four tries against Springboks in a century. In the first half, Irish, made three tries that exposed the poor defence of Pierre Spies in particular and Bryan Habana out of position at 13. Spies was twice caught charging out of the line and the Irish swiftly punished that opening each time. The Springboks, fielding a largely experimental side, fought hard as Habana and debutant Francois Steyn dotted down in the second half. That comeback was roundly ended by Horgan after O'Driscoll expertly put him away to seal the game.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England, Results, First test in Dublin
The match celebrate the centenary of the first Springboks tour and South Africa played in the kit worn by the 1906 touring squad, which was captained by Paul Roos.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England, Results, Second test with England
Next up was a two test encounter against England at fortress Twickenham. The Springboks had not beaten England since the Spring Tour of 2000 where the Boks won 18–13. England exacted revenge a week later and had built a period of dominance spanning six years. Even more disconcerting was that the Boks had not won at Twickenham since 1997; this leaving the Boks with a nine-year hoodoo to break. The Boks dominated England for much of the first test and seemed certain of victory until a late try by Phil Vickery gave England the result. A key turning point in the game was the injury to Butch James. His replacement, André Pretorius failed to deliver the steadiness Butch provided and missed an important penalty.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England, Results, The revenge with England
The final analysis was that this was a year of growth as much as it was a disappointing lost opportunity. Injuries to Schalk Burger (broken neck), Bakkies Botha (calf surgery), Jean De Villiers (cracked rib), Bryan Habana (cracked rib), Butch James (groin and knee), André Pretorius (groin), Joe Van Niekerk (C5 & C6 vertebrae), Jacques Cronje (cracked rib), Danie Rossouw (hamstring), Juan Smith (left quadriceps), Eddie Andrews (back), BJ Botha (back surgery), CJ Van Der Linde (Leg), Gurthro Steenkamp (broken hand), Pedrie Wannenburg (wrist surgery), Marius Joubert (fractured hand) amongst other lesser injuries stretched the Bok's depth to its limit.


2006 South Africa rugby union tour of Ireland and England, Results, The revenge with England
The blessing was that it allowed the Boks to break their reliance on certain individuals and expand their depth in blooding new players and testing new combinations. Francois Steyn was undoubtedly the find of the season alongside the elusive Ruan Pienaar. Jake also found depth in Wynand Olivier and Pierre Spies; the former being used extensively in plugging gaps left by injuries in the backline. Jake lamented the many lost opportunities of this campaign but was optimistic about the various changes they made to their defensive patterns and saw it as an important learning cuve ahead of the World Cup the following year


2006 South African Figure Skating Championships
The 2006 South African Figure Skating Championships were held from 25 through 28 September 2005. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's and ladies' singles at the senior, novice, and pre-novice levels. There was also a junior and juvenile ladies' competition.


2006 South African municipal elections
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa. The municipalities form the local government of South Africa and are subdivisions of the provinces, thus making them responsible for local service delivery, such as electricity, water and fire services.


2006 South African municipal elections
All major political parties, excepting the SACP who are members of the Tripartite alliance, fielded candidates in the election. The expected winner, the African National Congress (ANC) won the majority of seats nationwide, with 66.3% of the vote. These elections were seen as a test of the ANC, after some discontent with the speed of the delivery of new services at the municipal level in South Africa. The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA) took 14.8% of votes nationwide, placing them in second overall. The Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party took 8.1% of the vote, or third place, while the new party formed under the leadership of Patricia de Lille, the Independent Democrats took 2.0%, placing them fourth of all major political parties.


2006 South African municipal elections
However, because rural electors have an additional vote compared to urban voters (for district council), a fairer representation of popular party support is given by the percentage of proportional representation votes (excluding district council votes and ward votes) i.e. African National Congress (ANC) with 65.7% of the vote, the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 16.3% of votes nationwide, Inkatha Freedom Party with 7.6% of the vote and 2.2% for the Independent Democrats.


2006 South African municipal elections, Campaign
The campaign focused around the delivery of services, particularly to townships after 12 years of democracy in the country. Riots and large-scale protests had broken out before the elections in certain townships around the country. All parties promised to speed up delivery of services. In Durban the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo boycotted the elections under the slogan 'No Land! No House! No Vote!'


2006 South African municipal elections, Results
The ANC won a majority in most of the councils of Northern Cape Province, North West Province, Gauteng Province, Mpumalanga Province, Limpopo Province and Eastern Cape Province.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results
The DA won the largest share of votes in the City of Cape Town but did not achieve a majority, and hence was not able to form a government on its own. The DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille formed the city government and was elected mayor with the support of numerous minority parties. This was achieved in spite of the Independent Democrats siding with the African National Congress. The ID subsequently joined the DA-led coalition, strengthening its majority.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results
The Inkatha Freedom Party won the majority in KwaZulu-Natal Province, although it lost support overall, when compared to the previous election, and did not win the major economic centres in the province.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, Geography
The map to the right shows the winner in each of the six metropolitan municipalities, 231 local municipalities and 20 District Management Areas (DMAs) in South Africa.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, Nelson Mandela Bay
In the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, the ANC retained its majority in the metropolitan government, with Nondumiso Maphazi succeeding Nceba Faku as mayor of the municipality; Maphazi was also the first female mayor of the municipality. The ANC also captured 81 seats with 66.53 percent of the votes. The DA won 30 seats, the ID three and the other six seats were divided between smaller parties, including the FF+, ACDP, PAC and UIF.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, Johannesburg
In the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, the ANC retained its majority in the metropolitan government, and incumbent executive mayor Amos Masondo was re-elected to a second six-year term. The DA contested all wards, with opposition councillor Mike Moriarty unsuccessfully challenging Masondo for mayor.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, Tshwane
In the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, the ANC retained its majority in the metropolitan government, with former Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgope elected to succeed Smangaliso Mkhatshwa as mayor of Tshwane; Ramokgope also became the first female mayor of the municipality. Gwen was challenged by DA councillor Fred Nel for the seat.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, Ekurhuleni
In the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, the ANC retained its majority in the metropolitan government, with incumbent mayor Duma Moses Nkosi re-elected to a second term in office. He was challenged by DA councillor Eddie Taylor.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, eThekwini
In the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, the ANC retained its majority in the metropolitan government, with Obed Mlaba being elected to a third term (his second six-year term) in office as mayor of the municipality. The ANC's mandate was increased by an estimated 115,000 votes, at the expense of the IFP, as was the case in several other parts of KwaZulu-Natal.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, Cape Town
In the City of Cape Town, the Democratic Alliance was the largest single party in the City Council with 90 of the 210 seats on the council, ahead of the African National Congress's 81 seats, but with no party holding a majority. The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) with 7 councillors, drew an unlikely array of five smaller political parties together to form a king-maker block of 16 Councillors that eventually agreed to work with the DA's 90 in a multi-party government (MPG) rather than the ANC /Independent Democrats alliance.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By Metropolitan Municipality, Cape Town
The MPG's 106 councillors agreed to elect the DA's Helen Zille as Executive Mayor, the ACDP as Executive Deputy Mayor, the Speaker post was held by the one elected councillor from the Freedom Front Plus, whilst the United Democratic Movement (1 councillor), the Universal Party (1 councillor) and the Africa Muslim Party (2 councillors) took up seats on the Mayoral Committee. This fragile MPG survived until January 2007 when the AMP was expelled from the MPG for conspiring with the ANC. The ID was drawn into the MPG when the ACDP offered up its Executive Deputy Mayors post. This brought about a stable MPG


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By district, Cacadu
In the Cacadu District Municipality, the African National Congress won Makana, Kouga, Ndlambe, Camdeboo, Sunday's River Valley, Blue Crane, Kou-Kamma, Ikwezi, and Aberdeen. The Democratic Alliance won Baviaans.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By district, Sedibeng
In the Sedibeng District Municipality, the African National Congress won Emfuleni and Lesedi. The Democratic Alliance won Midvaal.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By district, West Coast
In the West Coast District Municipality, the African National Congress won Matzikama, Cederberg, Bergrivier, and Saldanha Bay. The Democratic Alliance won Swartland.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By district, Overberg
In the Overberg District Municipality, the African National Congress won Theewaterskloof, Cape Agulhas, and Swellendam. The Democratic Alliance won Overstrand.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By district, Eden
In the Eden District Municipality, the African National Congress won Kannaland, Hessequa, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, and Bitou. The Democratic Alliance won Mossel Bay and George.


2006 South African municipal elections, Results, By district, Central Karoo
In the Central Karoo District Municipality, the African National Congress won Beaufort West and Prince Albert. The Laingsburg Gemeenskaps Party won Laingsburg.


2006 South American Beach Soccer Championship
The 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CONMEBOL qualifier, also later and commonly known as the 2006 South American Beach Soccer Championship, was the first Beach Soccer World Cup qualification championship for South America, held from March 5–12 in Macaé, Brazil.


2006 South American Beach Soccer Championship
The qualifiers were not coordinated by CONMEBOL at the time. The event was instead organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), under the title of FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifier. CONMEBOL first recognised the tournament in 2013, under the title South American Beach Soccer Championship, also acknowledging the 2006–11 events as historic editions of the championship. CONMEBOL eventually began organising the qualifiers in 2017, under a new title.


2006 South American Beach Soccer Championship
Hosts Brazil won the championship, with Uruguay finishing second. Argentina won the third place play-off to claim third. These three nations moved on to play in the 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from November 2–12.


2006 South American Championships in Athletics
The 2006 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio La Independencia in Tunja, Colombia from 29 September to 1 October. The competition represented a departure from the traditional biennial cycle of the championships, a decision taken partly as a response to the lack of major competitions that year for the region's athletes, as well as the fact many athletes would instead focus on the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and the Pan American Games (in Rio de Janeiro) which were scheduled for the following year. The stadium's location at 2810 metres above sea level aided the performances of athletes competing in the sprint and field events. A total of 44 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 22 by female athletes.


2006 South American Championships in Athletics
Brazil continued its dominance in the medals and points tables with 26 gold medals and 55 medals in all, adding to an undefeated streak in the men's and women's sides since the 1975 edition. The hosts Colombia were clear runners-up with nine golds and 36 medals, while Argentina and Ecuador were the next most successful nations. Cold, windy conditions affected athletes performances over the course of the three-day competition, but five Championships records were broken or equalled.


2006 South American Championships in Athletics
Pole vaulter Fabiana Murer won her first continental title with a record clearance of 4.40 m, while Argentine Germán Chiaraviglio equalled the best mark in the men's event. Jessé de Lima beat defending high jump champion Gilmar Mayo in a record height and Jennifer Dahlgren retained her hammer throw title with a new record.


2006 South American Championships in Athletics
Colombian Bertha Sánchez became champion in three events (5000 m, 10,000 m and steeplechase) and her compatriot Caterine Ibargüen took a gold and two silver medals in the jumping events, as well as setting a national record in the triple jump. Brazil's Elisângela Adriano won both the shot put and discus throw disciplines. Two more of her compatriots scored event doubles: Lucimar Teodoro won the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles, while the 100 metres and 200 metres titles went to Rosemar Coelho Neto.


2006 South American Championships in Athletics – Results
These are the official results of the 2006 South American Championships in Athletics which took place from September 29 through October 1, 2006 in Tunja, Colombia.


2006 South American Cross Country Championships
The 2006 South American Cross Country Championships took place on March 4–5, 2006. The races were held at the Naval Base in Mar del Plata, Argentina. A detailed report of the event was given for the IAAF.


2006 South American Cross Country Championships
Complete results results for junior and youth competitions, and medal winners were published.


2006 South American Cross Country Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 142 athletes from 10 countries participated.


2006 South American Games
The VIII South American Games (Spanish: Juegos Sudamericanos; Portuguese: Jogos Sul-Americanos) were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, cycling, futsal, handball, roller sports, rowing, triathlon). An appraisal of the games and detailed medal lists were publishedelsewhere,emphasizing the results of the Argentinian teams.


2006 South American Games
The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR), who awarded the Games to the city with 10 votes over the bids by previous hosts Cuenca, Ecuador (3 votes) and Lima, Peru (1 vote).


2006 South American Games
The Games were originally awarded to the first edition host La Paz, Bolivia, but this decision was retracted following domestic instability in Bolivia during 2005. This country did not participate in the subsequent selection process after ODESUR denied its request to reconsider the decision.


2006 South American Games
Torch lighter at the Estadio del Parque Roca was multiple Olympic medalist, windsurfer Carlos Espínola.


2006 South American Games, Medal Count
The medal count for these Games is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of gold medals earned by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.


2006 South American Games, Sports, Notes
†: The competition was reserved to representatives aged under 23.


2006 South American Race Walking Championships
The 2006 South American Race Walking Championships were held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on April 8–9, 2006. The track of the championship runs in the Paseo El Prado (Avenida Ballivián). A detailed report on the event and an appraisal of the results was given by Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF.


2006 South American Race Walking Championships
Complete results were published. The junior events are documented on the World Junior Athletics History webpages.


2006 South American Race Walking Championships, Participation
The participation of 89 athletes from 9 countries was announced. Another source reports 93 athletes. An unofficial count yields 107 athletes.


2006 South American Rugby Championship "A"
The 2006 South American Rugby Championship was the 28th edition of the competition of the leading national Rugby Union teams in South America.


2006 South American Rugby Championship "A"
The tournament, that was also valid as the final stage of South Americas 2007 Rugby World Cup qualification, wasn't played in a host country, but each of the three countries participating hosted a match.


2006 South American Rugby Championship "A", Standings
Three point for victory, two for draw, and one for lost


2006 South American Rugby Championship "B"
The 2006 South American Rugby Championship "B" was the seventh edition of the competition of the second level national Rugby Union teams in South America.


2006 South American Rugby Championship "B", Standings
Three point for victory, two for draw, and one for lost


2006 South American U-20 Women's Championship
The 2006 South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship was the second edition of South American youth women's football championship and the first with an age limit of 20 years. It was held from 4 to 20 January 2006 in Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, Chile. Team Brazil won this tournament and along with team Argentina, qualified for the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship.


2006 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics
The 2nd South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics were heldin Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the Centro Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo (CeNARD) on November 10–12, 2006. The championshipswere held as a part of the 2006 South American Games (ODESUR). A detailed report on the results was given.


2006 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, Participation
410 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event. However, an unofficial count through the result lists resulted only in 266 participating athletes:


2006 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, Medal summary
Medal winners are published. Detailed results can be found on the Fecodatle, on the CAU, on the CACAC website, on the CONSUDATLE website, and on the Tilastopaja website.


2006 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, Medal table (unofficial)
* There is a mismatch between the unofficial medal count aboveand the published medal count. This is explained by the factthat the source reports that in the women's 20 km race walkcompetition, Magaly Andrade from Ecuador won the silver medal and Luz Villamarín from Colombia won bronze. However, all other sources anda special report on the race walking competitions list Luz Villamarín second and Magaly Andrade third.


2006 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, Team trophies
The placing tables for team trophy (overall team, men and women categories) were published.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship
The 2006 South American Women's Football Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino 2006) was the fifth staging of the South American Women's Football Championship (now known as Copa América Femenina) and determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2008 Olympic Games football tournament. The tournament was held between November 10 and November 26 in the Argentine city of Mar del Plata.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship
The hosts Argentina won the tournament for the first time and qualified to their second FIFA Women's World Cup and their first Olympic tournament. Runners-up Brazil also qualified for the World Cup; but had to face Ghana in a play-off to qualify to the Olympics.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship, Venue
Like in the 1998 edition, the only venue used for the tournament was the Estadio José María Minella, also known as Estadio Mundialista.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship, Officials
The following referees and assistant referees were named for the tournament:


2006 South American Women's Football Championship, Results
The tournament format is similar to the 1998 edition. It features a first round, where the ten teams are divided into two groups of five teams each. The top two teams in the groups advance to a final round, instead of a knockout stage.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship, Results
The final round was set up in a round-robin format, where each team played one match against each of the other teams within the group. The top two teams in the group qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in the People's Republic of China, and the first-placed team won the tournament.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship, Results
Three points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.


2006 South American Women's Football Championship, Results, Final round
Argentina and Brazil qualified to the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Argentina and Brazil also qualified to the 2008 Olympics, although second placed Brazil had to play an Inter-continental play-off, which they won against Ghana eventually.


2006 South American Youth Championships in Athletics
The 18th South American Youth Championships in Athletics were heldin Caracas, Venezuela from October 14–15, 2006. The event wasrelocated from the Estadio Pueblo Nuevo in San Cristóbal, Táchira,Venezuela, because the renovation of the stadium for the Copa América de Fútbol 2007 was not yet completed. A detailed report on the results was given.


2006 South American Youth Championships in Athletics, Medal summary
Medal winners are published. Complete results can be found on the Fecodatle, and on the "World Junior Athletics History"website.


2006 South American Youth Championships in Athletics, Team trophies
The placing tables for team trophy (overall team, men and women categories) were published.


2006 South American Youth Championships in Athletics, Participation (unofficial)
Detailed result lists can be found  on the Fecodatle, and on the "World Junior Athletics History"website. An unofficial count yields the number of about 281athletes from about 13 countries:


2006 South Asian Games
The 2006 South Asian Games (also known as the 10th South Asian Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from August 18 to August 28, 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports.


2006 South Asian Games
The 10th edition of SAF Games also marked the debut for Afghanistan. Another highlight of 2006 SAF Games was unprecedented high levels of security for officials & players amid violent clashes between the Sri Lankan Government's troops and LTTE. Earlier in 2005, the Games, originally scheduled to be held in 2005, had been postponed following the Indonesian tsunami wave devastated the northern and eastern region.


2006 South Asian Games, Mascots
Pora-Pol (an ancient sport of coconut fighting) and Wali kukula (a jungle fowl) were chosen as the official logo and mascot for the 2006 SAF Games, respectively. However they drew some criticism for the lack of creativity particularly in the case of mascot.


2006 South Asian Games, Sports
The 2006 South Asian Games encompassed a record 20 disciplines with hockey being reintroduced after several years.


2006 South Asian Games, Participating nations
athletes from eight countries competed at 2006 South Asian Games.


2006 South Asian Games, Doping
The 10th SAF games could not be freed from infamous trend of steroid-using by athletes to boost their performance, as a group of athletes were reportedly tested positive for the use of banned performance-enhancing substance. Prominent athletes alleged to test positive included Nepal's double gold-medalist  Rajendra Bhandari, Pakistani boxers Nauman Karim & Mohammed Lassi and Sri Lanka's Jani Chathurangani Silva. An Indian athlete was also said to have failed a dope test.


2006 South Australian state election
The state election for the 51st Parliament of South Australia was held in the Australian state of South Australia on 18 March 2006, and was conducted by the independent State Electoral Office.


2006 South Australian state election
In the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, the Labor government was returned in a landslide with 28 seats from a 56.8 percent two-party-preferred vote, winning six seats which were previously Liberal, who were reduced to just 15 seats, the worst result in their history.


2006 South Australian state election
In the 22-seat South Australian Legislative Council, the balance of power has been continuously held by the crossbench since the 1985 election. With half of the seats up for election, Labor gained an additional seat at the expense of the Liberals, Nick Xenophon and No Pokies rose to prominence after unexpectedly winning a historic fifth of the entire statewide vote, the Greens won their first seat, Family First won their second seat to hold two seats, while the faltering Democrats failed to win a seat for the first time in their history.


2006 South Australian state election, Results summary, House of Assembly
The centre-left Australian Labor Party, elected in 2002 and led by Premier Mike Rann of the Rann Government, gained six Liberal-held seats and a 7.7 percent statewide two-party preferred swing, resulting in a net gain of five seats and the first Labor majority government since the 1985 election with 28 of the 47 House of Assembly (lower house) seats.


2006 South Australian state election, Results summary, House of Assembly
The centre-right South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia, led by Leader of the Opposition Rob Kerin, regained a former independent seat while losing other seats – a net loss of five seats. The Liberals were left with only 15 of 47 seats, the worst result for the Liberals in South Australian electoral history.


2006 South Australian state election, Results summary, House of Assembly
Independent members Bob Such and Rory McEwen were re-elected. Kris Hanna, elected in 2002 representing Labor, was re-elected as an independent member. The sitting Nationals SA member Karlene Maywald was also re-elected.


2006 South Australian state election, Results summary, Legislative Council
With 11 of the 22-member Legislative Council (upper house) standing for election, both major parties finished with a total of eight of the 22 seats, with Labor winning four of the 11 and the Liberals winning three. No Pokies independent Nick Xenophon polled 20.5 percent, an unprecedented result for an independent or minor party, which resulted in both Xenophon and his running mate, Ann Bressington, being elected. Xenophon's third running mate, John Darley, was later appointed to the vacancy created by Xenophon's resignation. Family First had a second member elected. The Democrats vote collapsed with no candidate elected, leaving them with one remaining member in the upper house. The SA Greens won a seat for the first time.


2006 South Australian state election, Results summary, Leadership changes
Following the outcome of the election, the member for Davenport, Iain Evans, replaced Rob Kerin as leader of the Liberal Party and thus as Leader of the Opposition.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is Australia's oldest political party, founded in 1891. It is a centre-left social democratic party which is formally linked to the trade union labour movement. At a state level, the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party had been in government since the previous election in 2002, having been in opposition from 1993 to 2002. Since the 1970 election ending decades of electoral malapportionment of the Playmander, nine of the 12 elections since have been won by Labor. Labor's most notable premiers in South Australia include Thomas Price in the 1900s, reformist Don Dunstan in the 1970s, John Bannon in the 1980s and the factionally nonaligned and pragmatic Mike Rann. The party's deputy leader, and therefore the Deputy Premier, was Kevin Foley.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Liberal Party of Australia
The South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right conservative liberal party with close links to business and advocating free markets. Whilst primarily a socially conservative party, there exists a more socially liberal wing, colloquially known as 'wet', 'moderate' or small-l liberals, highlighted by the short-lived Liberal Movement who first contested the 1975 election as a separate party led by Steele Hall.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Liberal Party of Australia
At state level, in 1973 the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia emerged from the Liberal and Country League (LCL), which in turn had resulted from a merger between the Liberal Federation and the Country Party in 1932. The state opposition leader at the 2006 election, Rob Kerin, was seen as being largely aloof from factional disputes.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Nationals SA
The Nationals SA is a sub-division of the conservative National Party of Australia (formerly the Country Party). First contesting the 1965 election, they have only held two seats: Flinders (1973–1993) and Chaffey (1997–2010). Former member Karlene Maywald, representing the Riverland district of Chaffey, accepted a cabinet position in 2004 as part of the Rann Labor government, as Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Small Business, and later Minister for Water Security.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Nationals SA
This informal ALP-NAT coalition (the first since 1935) caused an uproar, with the federal Liberal member for the SA seat of Sturt, Christopher Pyne, calling for Maywald's expulsion from the Nationals, and Patrick Secker calling for a corruption enquiry into the appointment. Neither eventuated. As the Liberal Party in South Australia is descended from a historical merger from an earlier Country Party, the SA Nationals are not as dominant in rural areas as their eastern state counterparts.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, SA Greens
The SA Greens, founded in 1995, are a sub-division of the left-wing Australian Greens. They are based on green politics and consider themselves a new politics party with strong beliefs in ecology, democracy and social justice amongst other issues. Federally and locally they have seen a continued rise in primary votes, in part due to the demise of the Australian Democrats. The 2007 federal election saw 77.28% of the Greens' preferences flow to Labor over the Liberal Party in SA. The party's Parliamentary leader is Mark Parnell.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Family First Party
The Family First Party, founded immediately before the 2002 state election, has a political ideology based on Christian-influenced conservatism. Although officially a secular party, it has close links to the Pentecostal movement, and in particular the Assemblies of God denomination. Its social policies generally mirror conservative Christian values (but not necessarily politically conservative values). The 2007 federal election saw 57.10% of their preferences flow to the Liberals over the Labor Party in SA. The party's leader at the time of the election was Andrew Evans.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats were originally a centrist party, with most current policies based on social liberalism. Federally, the party was founded in 1977 from three different groups, all of which had split from the Liberal Party at different times: 1) the Liberal Movement, which had split from its parent over electoral reform; 2) the Australia Party, which had rebelled against Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and 3) initial leader Don Chipp, who left the Liberal Party, citing dissatisfaction with the increasing underrepresentation of small-l liberals within the party.


2006 South Australian state election, Party backgrounds, Australian Democrats
At the state level it is descended from the New Liberal Movement (New LM) of Robin Millhouse, who held the Democrats' only lower house seats, Mitcham and its successor seat Waite. The Democrats have suffered internal problems and leadership scuffles since 1997. The 2007 federal election saw 65.79% of Democrat preferences flow to Labor over the Liberal Party in SA. The party's leader at the election was Sandra Kanck.


2006 South Australian state election, Electoral system
South Australia is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the Parliament of South Australia, which consists of The Sovereign (represented by the Governor of South Australia), the House of Assembly (lower house) which forms the government, and the Legislative Council (upper house) as a house of review. Forty-seven members of the lower house represent single-member electorates and are elected under the full-preference Instant-runoff voting (IRV) system for fixed four-year terms. The independent State Electoral Office, which conducts elections, is responsible for a mandatory redistricting of boundaries before each election to ensure one vote one value. At each election, voters choose half of the 22 upper house members, each of whom serves eight-year terms in a single statewide electorate.


2006 South Australian state election, Electoral system
The Legislative Council is elected under the preferential Single Transferable Vote (STV) system through a means of Group voting tickets. Voters can choose to vote for a ticket by placing the number '1' in one of the ticket boxes "above the line" or can vote for individual candidates by numbering all the boxes "below the line" (54 in the 2006 election). In above the line voting, ticket votes are distributed according to the party or group voting ticket registered before the election with the election management body. As more than 95% of ballot papers are above the line, this form of voting often leads to pre-election trading between parties on how each party will allocate later preferences to other parties and candidates.


2006 South Australian state election, Electoral system
Voting is compulsory once enrolled in South Australian elections, which results in turnout rates above 90 percent. Informal voting, which occurs when a voting slip is not valid, is at a rate of under five percent. Voting slips are informal when they are not filled out correctly, such examples are not numbering subsequent numbers, not filling out all the candidate boxes with numbers (except the last candidate), or in some other way that is verified by the State Electoral Office as illegible. South Australian elections have some features that are unique to the rest of Australia.


2006 South Australian state election, Electoral system
As elections have fixed four-year terms, the election date of 18 March 2006 was known well ahead of time. The Electoral Act stipulates that the election is to be held on the third Saturday in March every four years. The election campaign must run for a minimum of 25 days or a maximum of 55 days, therefore the Governor would have needed to issue writs for the election by 21 February 2006 at the latest. On 20 February, Premier Mike Rann invited Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson to issue writs for the election.


2006 South Australian state election, Electoral system
In accordance with electoral regulations, the Electoral Commissioner then advertised key dates for the election of the House of Assembly and half of the Legislative Council – close of rolls on 27 February 2006 at noon, nominations to be received by 2 March 2006 at noon, polling day on 18 March 2006, and the return of writs on or before 28 April 2006.


2006 South Australian state election, Election background
In the 2002 election, Labor won 23 seats, the Liberals 20, Nationals 1, and conservative Independents won three. As 24 seats are required to govern, the Liberal Party was expected to retain government with the support of all four independents.


2006 South Australian state election, Election background
However, in a surprise decision, one of the conservative independents, Peter Lewis, decided to support Labor in exchange for holding a constitutional convention, making him speaker of the House of Assembly, and concessions for his electorate including the phasing out of commercial fishing in the River Murray, prioritising the eradication of the branched broomrape weed, changing water rates for irrigation, fast-tracking a feasibility study for a weir and lock at Wellington, and improving rural roads. Lewis resigned as speaker in April 2005 after controversy over allegations of paedophilia he had made about a serving MP. However, by this time, Labor had already gained the support of independents Bob Such and Rory McEwen in 2002, as well as Nationals SA member Karlene Maywald in 2004. Such was given the position of speaker for the remainder of the government's term.


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
The Labor campaign was heavily based around Premier Mike Rann with Labor's advertising swapping between the mottos "Building South Australia" and, to a greater extent, "RANN Gets Results". Some commentators also argued that the "presidential" style of campaign, common in modern Australian politics, could be seen in Labor's formal campaign launch at the Norwood Town Hall the Sunday before the election, which had some similarities to the nomination conventions that the major parties hold in the United States.


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
Another facet of the Labor campaign was extensive negative campaigning against Liberal leader Rob Kerin, including an advertisement featuring an excerpt of an interview that Kerin had with FIVEaa presenter Keith Conlon, who asked Kerin why he wanted to be leader of the Liberal Party. Kerin stammered for a few seconds and gave the impression that he was uncertain. The advertisement concluded with the question, "Does Rob Want The Job?". Conlon complained that the advertisement gave the false impression that he was endorsing Labor, but Labor campaign director David Feeney dismissed his concerns. Other negative advertisements run by Labor revolved around the actions of the previous Liberal government—one advertisement and leaflet reminded voters that while in power, the previous Liberal government closed 65 schools, closed hospital wards, and privatised the Electricity Trust of South Australia.


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
Considered "strapped for cash", the Liberal Party ran a very limited television and radio campaign. Businessman Robert Gerard was forced to resign from his Federal Liberal Party-appointed position on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia due to the party appointing him to the position despite the known fact that he had outstanding tax avoidance issues being dealt with by the Australian Taxation Office, and had thus subsequently pulled out of his traditional role of bankrolling the state division of the party, leaving the party with "only enough funds for the most basic campaign".


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
Kerin indicated people would have to "wait and see" if there would be any campaign, even asking trade unions for donations, no matter how small. The advertisements that did run argued that Labor was wasting record tax receipts from the GST.


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
A number of embarrassments for the Liberal Party surrounded their television advertisement—in an early version released to journalists, Labor was spelt "Labour" (Labor cabinet minister King O'Malley dropped the 'u' in 1912 to "modernise" it as per American English) and the advertisement alleged that South Australia's hospital waiting lists were the worst in the nation, which Labor successfully disputed to the Electoral Commissioner. During the election campaign, David Pisoni, the Liberal candidate for Unley, made allegations in his advertising that Labor and their candidate Michael Keenan supported controversial urban infill programmes, which Labor flatly denied. Electoral Commissioner Kay Mousley investigated and ordered that the advertisements be withdrawn and corrections be run at Pisoni's expense.


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
The Labor minority government sought to win a majority in the House of Assembly. Opinion polls indicated that this was likely and ABC elections expert Antony Green said that the "Labor government looks set to be returned with an increased majority". Centrebet had Labor at odds of $1.01 and the Liberals at $12.00 for a majority government.


2006 South Australian state election, Campaign
Most commentators agreed that the Liberal Party had little chance of winning government, and that Kerin would step down from the leadership after the election, a suspicion confirmed in Kerin's concession speech. Martin Hamilton-Smith was considering mounting a leadership challenge, however, he withdrew on 14 October 2005 (probably for the sake of the impression of party unity) and subsequently resigned or was pushed from the opposition frontbench.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
One of the most publicised issues prior to the election was the tram extension from Victoria Square to the Adelaide railway station which the Liberals, despite having proposed the idea in their previous transport plan, now opposed. Construction began in April 2007 and was operational as of October 2007. The Adelaide Airport expansion suffered fuel delivery related delays that Labor was criticised for. A perennial election issue, lack of safety improvement of the Britannia Roundabout was focused on by the Norwood Liberal candidate. Land and payroll tax cuts worth $1.5 billion were announced by Labor, the largest in the state's history. The tax cuts coincided with South Australia achieving an economic "Triple A" rating under the current Labor government. Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan "praised" Labor's economic management.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
The Advertiser revealed details of "the biggest project of its kind in South Australia's history", a $1.5 billion redevelopment on the western bank of the inner harbour. The development will include 2000 new homes on government-owned land and new buildings as high as 12 storeys. This followed the awarding of a $6 billion air warfare destroyer contract to ASC Pty Ltd, based in the electorate at Osborne.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
The future of the River Murray has come under threat due to falling water levels, and in an unprecedented move, Nationals MP Karlene Maywald was given a cabinet position as Minister for the River Murray in 2004. Possible nuclear waste dumps were of concern to many Adelaide residents; Premier Rann successfully lobbied against any federal government proposals.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
Law and order was another key issue, with Labor promising extra police. Tough drink and drug driving laws had also been introduced which included zero tolerance roadside testing for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Methamphetamine, and later MDMA. Labor introduced speed limit reduction legislation which took effect in March 2003 which saw non-arterial non-main roads and most Adelaide CBD roads reduce from 60 km/h to 50 km/h. The Liberals proposed to increase the speed limit back to 60 km/h for several roads, concentrated mainly around the Adelaide Park Lands.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
Allegations were made over the condition of the state's health system and the capacity to deal with mental health issues. Labor pledged to buy back Modbury Hospital located in the district of Florey, privatised under the Liberal government to alleviate the effect of the State Bank collapse.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
The need for homosexual law reform was acknowledged by both major parties; however, there was disquiet within the Labor Party over delays. December 2006 saw the Domestic Partners bill pass which provides greater recognition to same sex relationships on a range of issues such as superannuation. The bill was supported by all parties after much negotiation, but in the end was voted against by both members of Family First, as well as Liberal Terry Stephens.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
Electoral reform policies received little attention, as did the eventually shelved referendum proposal by the Rann Government to abolish or reform the Legislative Council. WorkCover underfunded liability increases have also received little attention, despite the fact that the liability has climbed from a disputed $67 to $85 million to $700 million since Labor came into government in 2002 due to a more generous compensation scheme. Labor have since looked into reform for the scheme including cutting payments to injured workers.


2006 South Australian state election, Issues
There were claims that federal industrial relations reform, WorkChoices, was an influential issue in the election. The Liberals announced 4,000 public service job cuts to fund their election promises.


2006 South Australian state election, Polling
Newspoll polling is conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Roy Morgan polling is conducted face-to-face Australia-wide. Sampling sizes consist of 500–1000 electors, Roy Morgan has a sampling tolerance (the Margin of error) of ±3.2 percent for a 40 to 60 percent rating in a sample size of 1000 electors, and ±4.5 for 500 electors. The sampling tolerance rate is lower for high and low percentages.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly
South Australian state election, 18 March 2006House of Assembly << 2002–2010 >>


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly
The final results for the House of Assembly seats were 28 Labor, 15 Liberal, three independents and one National. First preference and two party preferred statistics for each district are available through the South Australian House of Assembly electoral districts article.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly
Labor won six of eight key seats, the Liberals one of three. Labor's wins included the previously marginal Liberal seats of Hartley, Light, Morialta, Mawson, Bright and Newland. The Liberals regained Peter Lewis' seat of Hammond.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly
SA Nationals MP Karlene Maywald and independent MPs Bob Such, Rory McEwen and Kris Hanna were all re-elected. Hanna was elected at the 2002 election as a Labor candidate; this counted as a loss for Labor, giving Labor a net gain of five seats.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly
Labor, the Liberals and the Greens ran in all 47 seats, the Democrats ran in all but Giles which resulted in a contested seat vote of three percent, Family First ran in all but Ramsay and Croydon with a contested seat vote of 6.1 percent. The Nationals ran in Chaffey, Flinders, Finniss, and MacKillop, averaging 24.8 percent in those seats. Dignity for Disabled, No Rodeo and One Nation ran in 10, 7 and 6 six seats respectively.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
The outer southern suburbs district of Mawson was first won by former Liberal Police Minister Robert Brokenshire in the 1993 state election. He was defeated by former radio presenter Leon Bignell, who gained a 5.7 percent two party preferred swing for Labor.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
The other outer suburbs district that fell to Labor was Bright, which had been held since 1989 by former Liberal energy minister Wayne Matthew, who decided to retire at this election. The seat was contested for the Liberals by Legislative Council member Angus Redford, who faced a tougher fight than expected. He was defeated by Labor's Chloë Fox, who received a 14.4 percent swing on a two party preferred basis, the largest in the state.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
The inner southern suburbs district of Unley was won in 2002 by outspoken Liberal Mark Brindal who failed to win preselection for the seat and moved to contest the marginal Labor seat of Adelaide, but was shrouded in a controversy concerning a sexual relationship that Brindal had with a mentally ill man, forcing him to withdraw. The Liberal candidate was businessman David Pisoni, while Labor fielded Unley Mayor Michael Keenan. Despite a 7.9 percent two party preferred swing against him, Pisoni hung onto the seat by 1.1 percent.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
The inner north eastern suburbs district of Hartley had been won by Joe Scalzi in 1993 and held by a very narrow margin in each subsequent election. The district has a very high proportion of Italian migrants and the ability to speak the language is considered by many commentators as being vital for a candidate to win the seat. This was a factor in Labor's preselection of political staffer Grace Portolesi, who defeated Scalzi with a 5.9 percent two party preferred swing.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
The neighbouring district of Morialta had been held by former Liberal Tourism Minister Joan Hall since 1993. She was defeated by Labor's Lindsay Simmons, who received a 12 percent two party preferred swing, reclaiming the seat for Labor for the first time since 1975.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
In the outer north-east, the district of Newland had been won by Liberal Dorothy Kotz since 1989. After her decision to retire, the Liberals preselected police officer and local councillor Mark Osterstock. He was defeated by Labor's Tom Kenyon, who recorded a 12.5 percent two party preferred swing.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
Light, which contains Gawler and the outer northern suburbs, was recontested by sitting Liberal member and former Education Minister Malcolm Buckby. He was defeated by Labor candidate and Gawler Mayor Tony Piccolo, who received a 4.9 percent two party preferred swing. This was the first time since 1944 that Labor had won the seat.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Liberal seats
The rural and outback district of Stuart was first won in 1997 by Liberal Graham Gunn, a 40-year member of parliament and former Speaker. As in 2002, he was challenged by Labor ministerial adviser Justin Jarvis. Unlike the Adelaide metropolitan area and the neighbouring seat of Giles, there was only a small swing of 0.7 percent to Labor, so Gunn managed to hang on with a margin of 0.6 percent.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Labor seats
The inner eastern suburbs district of Norwood, held for Labor by former Norwood mayor Vini Ciccarello, was expected to be a tough contest, particularly after the Liberal preselection of former Adelaide Crows footballer Nigel Smart. Ciccarello retained the seat picking up a 3.7 percent swing on the two party preferred vote.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Labor seats
The other Labor seat considered vulnerable was the neighbouring inner city district of Adelaide where high-profile Education Minister and former Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith was challenged by Liberal Diana Carroll. Lomax-Smith comprehensively defeated Carroll with a 9.2 percent swing to Labor on the two-party preferred vote.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Independent seats
The southern suburbs district of Mitchell was won at the 2002 election by Labor's Kris Hanna. After the election, Hanna defected to the Greens and subsequently left and became an independent on 8 February 2006. Hanna faced a tough contest against by Labor's Rosemary Clancy. Despite pre-election expectations of a safe Labor win, Hanna defeated Clancy by 0.6 percent with the aid of Liberal preferences. Labor won a 65.2 percent two-party vote against the Liberals.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Independent seats
The district of Fisher, located in Adelaide's south, was held by independent MP Dr Bob Such. Late in the campaign, there was some speculation that Fisher may have been a closer contest than commentators initially expected, but Such comfortably defeated Labor's Amanda Rishworth and the Liberals' Andy Minnis with an independent candidate election best 45.2 percent of the primary vote, picking up a 4.6 percent two candidate preferred swing. The election outcome saw Such facing the Labor candidate on the two party preferred vote as opposed to the Liberal candidate in 2002. Labor won a 59.4 percent two-party vote against the Liberals.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Independent seats
The Riverland-based district of Chaffey was the only seat held by Nationals SA. River Murray Minister Karlene Maywald easily defeated Liberal Anna Baric. Maywald received a 3.2 percent swing on the two party preferred vote. The Liberals won a 71.8 percent two-party vote against Labor.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Independent seats
The district of Mount Gambier (which also includes much of South Australia's south east) was a close contest between independent and Agriculture Minister Rory McEwen and Liberal Peter Gandolfi. McEwen prevailed despite a 20.4 percent swing against him on the two party preferred vote. The Liberals won a 55.6 percent two-party vote against Labor.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Independent seats
The Murray Bridge based district of Hammond was won in 2002 by independent MP Peter Lewis who then cut a deal to deliver government to Labor. Facing almost certain defeat, he declined to recontest the district and his attempt to win a seat in the Legislative Council failed. Hammond was won comfortably by Liberal Adrian Pederick.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Key Independent seats
With Mitchell and Fisher included, Labor won the two-party vote in 30 of 47 seats.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, House of Assembly, Post-election pendulum
The following pendulum is known as the Mackerras Pendulum after its inventor, the psephologist Malcolm Mackerras. The pendulum works by lining up all of the seats held in the House of Assembly according to the percentage point margin they are held by on a two party preferred basis. This is also known as the swing required for the seat to change hands. Given a uniform swing to the opposition or government parties, the number of seats that change hands can be predicted. The seats are classified as follows: marginal 0–5.99 percent, fairly safe 6–10 percent, safe over 10 percent.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
South Australian state election, 18 March 2006Legislative Council << 2002–2010 >>


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
In the South Australian Legislative Council, Labor won 4 seats, the Liberals won 3 seats, both No Pokies member Nick Xenophon and his running mate Ann Bressington were elected and Family First and the Greens won a seat each. Almost 40 percent of voters deserted the major parties for Nick Xenophon and the minor parties; this percentage had been steadily increasing over time.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Labor received a 3.7 percent swing, electing four councillors as in the previous election. Carmel Zollo, Bob Sneath, Russell Wortley and Ian Hunter were all elected, with 4.39 quotas Bob Sneath was elected president of the Legislative Council.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
On the other hand, the Liberal vote collapsed with a 14.1 percent swing against the Liberal Party. Having received five councillors in 2002, at this election the Liberal Party had just three councillors elected. Rob Lucas, John Dawkins and Michelle Lensink were elected on 3.12 quotas.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Before the election, No Pokies member Nick Xenophon was popular with the media and in opinion polls, but he faced a tough campaign as a result of both major parties preferencing in favour of other independents and the minor parties. No Pokies received 20.5 percent of the vote, yielding 2.46 quotas and thus seats for both Xenophon and his running mate Ann Bressington. Having been elected at the 1997 election with 2.9 percent of the vote and other independent candidates at the 2002 election on 1.3 percent of the vote (Xenophon being a sitting member at that election), the No Pokies ticket received a swing of 19.2 percent.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
The Family First Party's first member, Andrew Evans MLC, was elected in 2002. Family First won 5 percent of vote with only a small swing of 0.98 percent, allowing candidate Dennis Hood to be elected on preferences.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
The SA Greens won 4.3 percent of the upper house vote meaning a swing of 1.5 percent, narrowly securing Mark Parnell for the last upper house seat on preferences. This is the first time The Greens have won a seat in South Australia. Having secured second spot on the ticket at this election, Sarah Hanson-Young was successful in gaining the first spot on the ticket at the 2007 federal election, which saw the Greens secure their first federal upper house seat in South Australia.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
The Australian Democrats fell to just one seat in the Legislative Council held by Sandra Kanck, after Kate Reynolds was defeated in her bid for re-election after being appointed in 2003. The Democrats gained only 1.8 percent after a 5.5 percent swing against them. Kanck has since announced that she would not recontest her seat at the next election, placing serious clouds over the future of the party in the state.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party gained 0.8 percent of the upper house vote and won none of the six lower house seats they contested. Their highest vote was 4.1 percent in the district of Hammond, followed by 2.7 percent in Goyder, and the other four hovering around 1 percent.


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Dignity for Disabled ran for the first time and won 0.6 percent of the upper house vote; they won none of the 10 lower house seats they contested. Their best results were in Wright and Bright, with 2.4 percent in each (506 and 492 votes respectively).


2006 South Australian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Labor-turned-independent Terry Cameron and Liberal-turned-independent Peter Lewis both failed in their bids for re-election.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
After the election, Rob Kerin vacated the position of opposition leader. The party selected conservative Iain Evans (son of former politician Stan Evans) for the role, with moderate Vickie Chapman (daughter of former politician Ted Chapman) as deputy leader. The only other contestant had been Isobel Redmond, who ran because she was concerned by some speculation that the Evans deal may have been stitched up by federal Liberal counterparts Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin. Preferred premier ratings in July 2006 showed Rann on 71 percent with Evans on 15 percent.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
Only 27 percent of Liberal Party supporters saw Evans as the preferred premier. Continuing low support for the new Liberal leadership saw Martin Hamilton-Smith replace Evans in April 2007, however this move saw Liberal support decline further to a three-year low according to an Advertiser poll conducted a month after the leadership change. Over half of polling respondents were unable to name the leader of the Liberal Party.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
This contradicted Newspolls quarterly polling indicating the Rann Labor government slipping to a two-party preferred figure of 57 percent down four percent, with a preferred premier rating of 52 percent down 14 percent for Rann and a first-time rating of 21 percent for Martin Hamilton-Smith. Poll results also show Rann's satisfaction rating was below 60 percent for the first time since coming to office at 58 percent, with Hamilton-Smith receiving a 33 percent satisfaction rate.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
Previously unknown quantity Ann Bressington, elected on the back of Nick Xenophon's No Pokies popularity, has proposed mainly conservative social policies such as raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21, zero tolerance of illicit drugs, mandatory twice-annual drug tests of every school student over the age of 14 regardless of whether parents give their consent, and making the sale of "drug-taking equipment" illegal. However, she remains undecided on voluntary euthanasia, calling it "a personal struggle".


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
Setting a precedent, Sandra Kanck's pro-euthanasia speech which contained suicide methods was censored from the internet version of Hansard in August 2006 as a result of an upper house motion, with Labor, Family First, Nick Xenophon and Ann Bressington voting for, and the Liberals and SA Greens member Mark Parnell voting against. Despite this, the speech was published on a non-Australian website.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
The state's budget was released on 21 September 2006. It included 1,600 public service job axings despite an election pledge of only 400, however none of the redundancies will be forced. It also included increases in some fees and charges such as victims of crime levies and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) charges. There were increases in funding for health, schools, police and prisons, and the Department of Public Prosecutions.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
The 2007–2008 budget released on 13 June 2007 saw additional spending on Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, Health, Families and Communities, and Justice portfolios such as transport initiatives including revitalisation of the rail network, commencement of the $1.7 billion Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital to replace the Royal Adelaide Hospital, funding for mental health reform including the delivery of health services, and funding for new commitments to law and order policies.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
No Pokies MP Nick Xenophon resigned from parliament in early October 2007 in a successful attempt to win a seat in the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, which according to the South Australian result, he retained 72 percent of his 2006 vote, on 14.78 percent. His replacement is his third candidate on the 2006 ticket, former Valuer-General John Darley, and was appointed by a joint sitting on 21 November 2007, where second candidate and upper house MP Ann Bressington also took the opportunity to accuse Xenophon of lacking integrity and suitability for federal parliament. Xenophon was re-elected to the Senate at the 2013 federal election with a record 25 percent vote.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
A record-breaking 13-hour Parnell-Bressington filibuster occurred in May 2008 in crossbench opposition to WorkCover cuts being passed by the major parties due to the increasing underfunded liability in the workers' compensation scheme.


2006 South Australian state election, Aftermath
Former Liberal Premier Rob Kerin resigned in November 2008, which triggered a 2009 Frome by-election. Independent Geoff Brock won the seat, reducing the Liberals to 14 of 47 seats. Brock's parliamentary presence would later be pivotal to the outcome of the 2014 election.


2006 South Cambridgeshire District Council election
Elections to South Cambridgeshire District Council took place on Thursday 4 May 2006, as part of the 2006 United Kingdom local elections. Twenty seats, making up just over one third of South Cambridgeshire District Council, were up for election, with a by-election being held in one ward (Harston and Hauxton). Seats up for election in 2006 were last contested at the 2004 election, when all seats were up for election due to new ward boundaries, and were next contested at the 2010 election. The Conservative Party remained the largest party with an increased number of seats, but the council remained under no overall control.


2006 South Cambridgeshire District Council election, Summary
At this election, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats were defending eight seats each. Independent councillors were defending in three wards, while Labour were defending in Sawston. The Liberal Democrats lost three seats to the Conservatives in Balsham, Melbourn and Waterbeach, but gained the Shelfords and Stapleford from the Conservatives. In Milton, the incumbent independent councillor ran for re-election as a Liberal Democrat. Other Conservative gains included from Labour in Sawston as well as from an independent in Cottenham. In Histon and Impington however an independent, who had run as a Conservative in 2004, defeated the incumbent Conservative councillor.


2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football team
The 2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks were led by Steve Spurrier in his second season as USC head coach and played their home games in Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.


2006 South Carolina Gamecocks football team, Schedule
The October 28 game against Tennessee played host to ESPN's College Gameday, the third year in a row that South Carolina had hosted the program.


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election
The 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford won re-election against Democratic State Senator Tommy Moore, becoming only the third Republican governor in South Carolina to win a second term (Robert Kingston Scott and Carroll A. Campbell Jr. were the others). Sanford started the campaign with a double-digit edge over Moore and he maintained that lead to election day. During the course of the campaign, Sanford's approval rating averaged in the mid fifties. In Sanford's re-election victory, he also garnered 22% of the African American vote, which was considered very high for a Republican statewide candidate.


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Democratic primary
Tommy Moore, a State Senator from western South Carolina, emerged with Florence Mayor Frank Willis as the major candidates in the Democratic primary election for governor. Rumors circulated that Superintendent of Education and former U.S. Senate candidate, Inez Tenenbaum, might enter the race, but she ultimately chose not to run for governor nor seek re-election to her position. Kenneth Holland, a former U.S. Representative from the 5th congressional district, briefly entered the race, but dropped out a month later after failing to raise enough financial contributions.


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Democratic primary
Moore and Willis traded barbs over campaign contributions made by Willis and his wife to prominent Republicans, including President George W. Bush and Senator Lindsey Graham. Attorney C. Dennis Aughtry, who entered the campaign at the eleventh hour, floated the idea of legalizing casinos statewide to raise money for public schools. Moore garnered more than 50% of the vote in the Democratic primary held on June 13 and thus avoided a runoff election.


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Republican primary
Portending a sign of trouble, incumbent Governor Mark Sanford faced a primary challenge from Oscar Lovelace, a physician from the Midlands. When former Governor David Beasley ran for re-election in 1998, he faced a primary challenge and went on to lose the general election to Jim Hodges. Sanford's veto of a heart center for Lexington County and theatrics such as bringing pigs to the Statehouse to show his displeasure of pork barrel spending by the General Assembly angered and annoyed many Republicans. However, Sanford's strategy of avoiding Lovelace and refusal to debate worked as the governor scored a decisive victory in the primary on June 13.


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Campaign
Governor Mark Sanford proposed three major issues in his campaign for re-election, chief among them being the restructuring of state government. He wanted to reduce the number of statewide elected officials from nine to three and eliminate the state's Budget and Control Board. The governor insisted that these measures would reduce the number of redundant positions and make state government both more efficient and less costly. Sanford's three major issues for the campaign were:


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Campaign
State Senator Tommy Moore ran as a good manager of state government. He held socially conservative and fiscally moderate positions, which put him squarely at odds with the libertarian incumbent. Moore disagreed with what he believed was Sanford's condescending and combative approach of dealing with the General Assembly. The senator also believed that Sanford lacked leadership skills, and that lack of leadership had brought South Carolina to a standstill over the past four years in his view. The main policy proposals that he developed were:


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Campaign
On July 7, several weeks after the primary election, Lexington County State Senator Jake Knotts launched a last minute effort to place his name on the ballot as a petition candidate for governor. He had feuded with Governor Sanford over a number of issues, including the heart center for Lexington County, and supported Lovelace in the Republican primary. In order to be on the ballot in November, Knotts needed to collect 10,000 signatures of registered voters by July 17, which he failed to do. Knotts's political consultant publicly stated that he could not have raised enough money to have run a successful candidacy.


2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, Campaign
There were two trains of thought on the effects of a candidacy by Knotts. It was generally believed that had Knotts entered the race, it would have split the Republican vote and helped elect Tommy Moore. However, because those who supported Knotts went on to support Moore, it was also argued that a Knotts candidacy would have in fact deprived Moore of both votes and money.


2006 South Carolina state elections
The 2006 South Carolina State Elections took place on November 7, 2006, and included the gubernatorial election. All nine popularly elected constitutional officers were up for reelection, and all races except the Attorney General's were contested. The entire South Carolina House of Representatives, one state senator and six state circuit solicitors were also up for election. Several constitutional amendments were also on the ballot.


2006 South Carolina state elections
Filing for the major parties closed on March 28, 2006, and filing for minor parties closed on August 15. The primaries for both parties were held on June 13, and run-offs were held June 27. All results are taken from the South Carolina Election Commission's official results. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Governor
Lovelace's candidacy was largely quixotic, although it did garner some interest from disaffected Republicans and Democrats. The Prosperity doctor emphasized working across party lines, health care reform, opposition to school vouchers and job creation. Sanford largely ignored Lovelace's campaign, even refusing to attend a South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) debate with his opponent. Although Lovelace made a stronger than expected showing in the primary, his loss was not surprising.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Governor
Moore obtained the support of much of the state party months in advance, having declared his candidacy early. Moore ran on a platform that stressed his experience in state government and support for consensus-building politics. Willis largely self-financed his campaign, highlighting his history fighting crime in Florence and bringing economic development to the PeeDee. Aughtry was a late entrant in the race, and based almost his entire campaign off the idea of legalizing casino gambling in the state to boost revenues. Holland briefly entered the race, but left when it became apparent he could not raise enough money to be an effective candidate. His name was not on the primary ballot. Moore won with an absolute majority, avoiding a run-off.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Governor
Before the general election campaign, major issues in the race were expected to likely be South Carolina's property tax, cigarette tax, and school vouchers. However, the race had surprisingly low visibility, with the only major issue being the governor's combative relationship with the legislature. Job creation and public school investment were minor issues in the campaign. Despite being named one of the worst Governors in the country by Time Magazine  a year before the election and generally being seen as ineffective, Sanford defeated Moore in the general election by ten points.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Governor
State Senator Jake Knotts considered mounting an independent candidacy for governor, and collected enough petition signatures to theoretically qualify for the ballot, but decided not to run.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Lieutenant Governor
The Republican primary was expected to be messy and close between Bauer and Campbell, but the former's plane crash and resulting public sympathy late in the race stymied negative campaigning. Campbell relied upon a base of support in the Upstate, where support for his father was strong, while Bauer made stops all across the state in a traditional face-to-face campaign. Campbell received an endorsements from former president George H. W. Bush, support that was the basis of one of his television ads. Jordan, a late entrant, went negative against both camps in radio and internet ads, but never gained traction outside of Anderson. No candidate received 50% of the votes in the primary, and thus Campbell and Bauer faced each other in a run-off, which Bauer won.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Lieutenant Governor
The Lieutenant Governor's race was dominated by the missteps of Bauer, the incumbent. Bauer came under criticism for multiple citations for speeding and flamboyant personality. His controversial public image, and the fundraising prowess of his opponent, Robert Barber, who did not face a primary, kept the race close in public polling throughout the campaign. In late May, a two-passenger plane which Bauer was piloting crashed in the Upstate. Bauer's ankle was shattered, but otherwise he and the passenger in the plane survived with minimal injuries.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Lieutenant Governor
The plane crash was later determined to have been caused by faulty bolts in the plane's construction. Barber later suffered from his own personal problems with his James Beard Award winning restaurant, Bowen's Island, burned late in the campaign. Bauer eventually won the general election with less than one percent over the vote after a recount.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Secretary of State
Hammond initially faced little opposition from Flynn and McKown and far out fundraised both. However, Flynn withdrew from the race and endorsed McKown, whose campaign picked up traction based on questioning Hammond's conservatism and support for the governor. Hammond eventually defeated McKown. Although Flynn received 6.5% of the vote in the primary, his votes were not officially tallied.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Secretary of State
Mark Hammond faced Democratic challenger Cheryl Footman, who did not face a primary. In a rather bizarre moment in the race, Footman attempted to burst into patriotic song at the end of her SCETV debate with Hammond, but was quickly cut off by the moderator. Hammond easily won re-election.


2006 South Carolina state elections, State Treasurer
The Republican treasurer's race was hotly contested. Ryberg and Quinn were initially seen to be the front-runners, and Ryberg, the 2002 Republican nominee, made an early $2 million loan to his campaign. Ultimately, Ravenel defeated his opponents in the primary just short of the necessary 50 percent total to prevent a run-off. Ryberg and Quinn both withdrew from the run-off, citing the need for party unity behind Ravenel. Ravenel easily defeated Willis in the run-off.


2006 South Carolina state elections, State Treasurer
The treasurer's race pitted Thomas Ravenel, a young millionaire and emerging politician, against Grady Patterson, a nine-term incumbent who did not face primary opposition. The race was largely fought over the state of South Carolina's employee pension fund, with Ravenel taking issue with the state's projected unfunded liability and its failure to invest the fund in equity funds, which he claims would boost returns. Patterson retorted by pointing out Ravenel's inexperience and accusing Ravenel of using the race as a platform to run against incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham, which Ravenel denied was his intention. Thomas Ravenel won the election, but was indicted on June 19, 2007 on cocaine charges, and has been suspended as Treasurer.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Attorney General
The incumbent, Henry McMaster, did not face a primary and ran unopposed in the general election.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Comptroller General
Neither party held a primary for the race. The incumbent, Richard Eckstrom, was challenged by Drew Theodore, businessman and son of former Lieutenant Governor Nick Theodore. The only public issue in the race was incumbent Richard Eckstrom's use of a state-owned car to drive himself to Minnesota a year earlier, and also his use of state funds to refurbish his state offices upon taking office in 2003. The race got some national attention when Saturday Night Live aired a sketch September 30, lampooning President Bush's low popularity by portraying Eckstrom as the only Republican running for office who was willing to be seen campaigning with the president. Eckstrom eventually won reelection.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Superintendent of Education
The crowded Republican primary was dominated by Floyd's campaign from the start. Floyd was able to gain the endorsements of the governor, both Senators, Republican Congressmen and state legislators early in the race, when it was presumed that she would be running against incumbent Inez Tenenbaum. When Tenenbaum announced she would not be running, more serious candidates began eyeing the race, and Bob Staton eventually became the viable alternative to Floyd. His race emphasized an opposition to school vouchers and support for existing aspects of public education. The other, more minor candidates, were largely united in an anti-voucher position.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Superintendent of Education
Ryan distinguished himself by straying from attacks on the state's standardized test regime, the PACT, instead supporting the idea of standardized testing as a way to create standards in education. Just before the election, Wood withdrew from the race and endorsed Staton, but despite this his votes were officially tallied after the race. Floyd won the primary, barely surpassing the 50 percent threshold to avoid a run-off.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Superintendent of Education
Although Tenenbaum began preparing for a campaign in 2005, she eventually decided against running and withdrew from the race. Cecil Taliaferro and Ed Murray, two Democrats, then entered the race. Frank Holleman, Tenenbaum's campaign manager in her 2004 Senate run and former Deputy Secretary of Education, considered a run but did not enter the race. When Rex announced his candidacy, he received wide acclaim from the party, and Taliaferro and Murray withdrew before filing. Since, Tenenbaum, Holleman, Murray and Elizabeth Moffly have endorsed Rex's candidacy.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Superintendent of Education
Tim Moultrie won the nomination of the Libertarian Party at their Lowcountry convention, fending off Rebekah Sutherland, the Libertarian Party's 2004 candidate for US Senate. Karr has received the endorsement of the South Carolina AFL-CIO and affiliated unions. His campaign is stressing the independence of the Superintendent's Office from that of the Governor, empowerment of public educators, and funding equity for all school districts in the state. He has proposed using SC lottery proceeds to subsidize poorer districts until the General Assembly enacts a permanent funding plan. Lindblad has pledged to dissolve the SC Department of Education if elected and eliminate the office of Superintendent entirely, claiming that bureaucracy is the biggest impediment to effective education. Fayyazi believes that the state superintendent should be an educator with knowledge of how public education works on the ground.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Superintendent of Education
The Superintendent race was one of the more high-profile and competitive races. The incumbent, Inez Tenenbaum, opted not to run for re-election after her defeat in the 2004 Senate election against Jim Demint. Republican Karen Floyd declared her candidacy early and posted strong fundraising numbers, avoiding a run-off in her primary against three opponents. The Democrat, college president Jim Rex, also showed himself to be an apt fundraiser, and gained the financial support of large segments of the education community. Rex eventually won the general election in a close election that was decided after a month-long recount.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Adjutant General
The Adjutant General campaign, the only one of its kind in the nation, was interesting not only for its novelty but also because of the entrance of an Iraq War veteran as a Democratic challenger to the incumbent, Stan Spears, a former businessman. The Democrat, Glenn Lindmann, was critical of the decreasing size of the state's national guard contingent over Spears' time in office, and also wanted to make the position an appointed one instead of an elected one. Spears countered that the size decrease is due to a national policy decision, not a state one, and said the position should remain elected. Spears won re-election.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Commissioner of Agriculture
One of the major issues in the Republican primary was whether the commissioner should be elected or appointed. Bell was an advocate for election, while Weathers supported appointment.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Commissioner of Agriculture
The Commissioner elected in 2002, Charles Sharp, was convicted in 2004 for accepting bribes from a cockfighting ring to help them avoid prosecution. He lost his office and was replaced by Weathers, the interim commissioner. Weathers was challenged by Democrat Emile DeFelice, an organic hog farmer and State Food Policy Council Chairman. DeFelice did not face a primary. DeFelice promoted raising consumption of locally grown foods over food from other states or countries and adopted an anti-subsidy platform that would limit direct subsidies to South Carolina farmers. Weathers won the general election.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Constitutional Amendments
Amendment 1 added Section 15 Article XVII of the state constitution, denying recognition of any domestic union other than a marriage between one man and one woman in South Carolina and all its political subdivisions. This also abolished common-law marriages and civil unions in the state. The amendment easily passed, although state statute already defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Constitutional Amendments
These amendments modified Article III. 2A amended Section 9 to allow the State Senate to, at any point, recess for up to 30 days with a simple majority vote, or recess for more than 30 days with a 2/3 majority vote. This basically extended to the Senate the same powers of recess already possessed by the House. 2B deleted a legal prohibition from Section 21 that prevented either legislative body from adjourning for more than 3 days without the consent of the other. Both easily passed.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Constitutional Amendments
3A modified Article X, Section 16 to allow state retirement funds to be invested in equity securities. 3B modified the same section, deleting language providing for a State Retirement Systems Investment Panel, an advisory body that oversees the investment of state retirement funds. Both easily passed


2006 South Carolina state elections, Constitutional Amendments
This amended Articles III and X of the constitution, allowing the General Assembly to cap changes in reassessment of property values for tax purposes at 15% over a five-year period. This amendment was part of a tax reform plan introduced by state Republicans during the summer of 2006, that centered around cutting property taxes and replacing them with an increased sales tax. Essentially, this amendment limited increases or decreases in millage to 15% of the property's pre-assessment value.


2006 South Carolina state elections, Constitutional Amendments
Amendment 5 amended Article I, Sections 13 and 17, and Article XIV, Section 5, to limit the circumstances in which local governments can use eminent domain to seize private property. This amendment was part of a national political movement to limit the powers of eminent domain following the famous 2005 Kelo v. City of New London Supreme Court case, in which the Supreme Court backed the power of governments to seize land for the use of private development projects. The amendment prevented governments in South Carolina from doing so, as well as eliminating constitutional clauses that give certain counties slum-clearing and redevelopment power.


2006 South Dakota Amendment C
South Dakota Amendment C of 2006 is an amendment to the South Dakota Constitution to make it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriages, or to recognize civil unions, domestic partnerships, or other quasi-marital relationships regardless of gender. The referendum was approved on 7 November 2006 by 52% of the state's voters.


2006 South Dakota Amendment C
Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota. The uniting of two or more persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or recognized in South Dakota.


2006 South Dakota Amendment C
The amendment was rendered void by Obergefell v. Hodges, a US Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.


2006 South Dakota gubernatorial election
The 2006 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Rounds defeated Democrat Jack Billion to serve a second term as governor.


2006 South Florida Bulls football team
The 2006 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida (USF) in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach was Jim Leavitt and they played all of their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 2006 college football season was the tenth season overall for the Bulls and their second season in the Big East Conference.


2006 South Korean local elections
The 4th Local Elections were held in South Korea on 31 May 2006. It was the first local elections in South Korea to have political parties nominating candidates for Municipal Councillors. The ruling Uri Party proved its declining popularity since the 2004 general elections while the main opposition party, Grand National Party managed to clinch back lost grounds, using the opportunity for the presidential election next year.


2006 South Lakeland District Council election
The 2006 South Lakeland District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2006 South Lakeland District Council election, Background
Candidates in the election included a Save Westmorland Hospital Group, opposed to any reduced services at Westmorland General Hospital. Meanwhile, councillors who stood down at the election included cabinet member Bob Barker and long time independent Elizabeth Braithwaite.


2006 South Lakeland District Council election, Election result
The results saw the Liberal Democrats win a majority on the council after gaining 9 seats, 6 from Labour, 2 from the Conservatives and 1 from an independent. This gave the Liberal Democrats 31 seats and was the first time that a political party had won a majority on the council. The 6 Liberal Democrat gains from Labour were all in Kendal, as well as 1 of the 2 gains from the Conservatives. The other 2 seats they gained were Sedbergh from the Conservatives and Lakes Grasmere, where the independent councillor had stepped down at the election.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum
South Ossetia, a mostly unrecognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in Tskhinvali, held a referendum on independence on November 12, 2006.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Referendum
The voters in the independence referendum organized by Tskhinvali answered the question: "Should the republic of South Ossetia retain its current status as an independent State, and be recognized by the international community?"


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Referendum
Parallel to the referendum and elections, the Georgia-backed Ossetian opposition movement organized its own elections in Eredvi, inhabited by ethnic Georgians, in which five Ossetian presidential candidates opposed to Eduard Kokoity took part. On the alternative referendum the voters answered the following question: "Should South Ossetia engage in discussions with Tbilisi concerning a federal State uniting it with Georgia?" According to the Electoral Commission of Alternative Elections, 42,000 voters turned out for the elections held in the territories under Georgian control, but Tskhinvali claimed that the voters numbered only 14,000. Dmitry Sanakoyev was elected by 88% of voters as the alternative President of South Ossetia.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Results
On 13 November 2006, the Central Election Commission of South Ossetia announced the results of the referendum. 99% of voters supported independence, with voter turnout at 95%.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
The Georgian government has declared both the election and the referendum illegal, but it was believed to support the Salvation Union of Ossetians, the organization in charge of holding the alternative elections. Kokoity thus accused Tbilisi of staging the alternative elections that aimed at "dividing the Ossetian people".


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 12 September 2006, the Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, welcomed the appointed South Ossetian referendum and announced that Russian parliamentarians would observe the voting process. On 13 September 2006, the Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues, Merab Antadze, issued a statement, condemning Gryzlov's statement as "destructive."


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
The European Union Special Representative to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, downplayed the forthcoming South Ossetian referendum and said in Moscow, on 13 September 2006, that the referendum would not contribute to the conflict resolution process in South Ossetia.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 13 September 2006, the Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Terry Davis commented on the problem, stating that:


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
The secessionist authorities of the South Ossetian region of Georgia are wasting time and effort on the organisation of a "referendum on independence" in November. [ ...] I do not think that anyone will recognise the result of such a referendum. If the people in power in South Ossetia are genuinely committed to the interest of the people they claim to represent, they should engage in meaningful negotiations with the Georgian government in order to find a peaceful, internationally accepted outcome.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
The head of the Institute of CIS Countries and the member of the Russian State Duma, Konstantin Zatulin, is quoted during his visit to Artsakh in October 2006, where he spoke only about Artsakh and Transnistria, as saying:


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
Recognition of the so-called unrecognized states is not far off. Unrecognized republics have all attributes of state system and stable democratic system.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 2 October 2006, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, said during his visit to Tbilisi:


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
I also call the South Ossetian authorities’ intention to hold a referendum counterproductive. It will not be recognized by the international community and it will not be recognized by the OSCE and it will impede the peace process.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 11 November 2006, Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a statement:


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On behalf of NATO, I join other international leaders in rejecting the so-called “referendum” and “elections” conducted in the South Ossetia/Tskhinvali region of Georgia. Such actions serve no purpose other than to exacerbate tensions in the South Caucasus region.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 11 November 2006, Luis Tascón, a member of the National Assembly of Venezuela, said during a press-conference in Tskhinvali: "Those people who wish to be free, will be free." He also hinted that Venezuela might eventually recognize the South Ossetian independence, claiming that president Chávez would make a correct decision. He also noted that his presence in Tskhinvali did not guarantee the recognition the South Ossetian independence by Venezuelan Government.


2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 11 November 2006, Sergei Fyodorov, an observer and Latvian Parliament member of Russian nationality, and a member of Socialist Party, stated during a press-conference in Tskhinvali that all peoples had the right for self-determination, and it could not be ignored. He also made a commitment to inform the other members of the Latvian Saeima of his observations.