National Party wins general election

The National Party under Dr H.F. Verwoerd claimed majority of votes in a parliamentary general election, Verwoerd's last election before his assassination in office six months later.  Of the 166 seats representing the White voters of South Africa and South-West Africa, nineteen were uncontested. Out of 1,324,995 votes cast, the Nationalists won 58.6 percent, which secured them 76 percent of the White seats; the United Party, 37.1 percent receiving, however, only 23 percent of the White seats; and the Progressive Party, 3.1 percent. Thirty candidates representing three splinter parties of the right wing and four independents shared the remaining 1.2 percent of the votes cast. The four Coloured representatives did not have to stand for re-election yet. The number of Assembly seats for White voters in South Africa had been increased from 150 to 160 by the Constitution Amendment Act of 1965. It is tempting to consider what the fate of South Africa might have been had the country enjoyed proportional representation.