Technically it was a majority vote. It's just the arrogance of the people that set up and agreed to the referendum that thought nobody would vote for it meant that they didn't define what the majority should be. >50%, 60%, 75% etc. It was a massive failure of state craft made easier because the case to remain hinged on a "if you're not with us you're a racist" argument that didn't go down well to win people over.
Technically it was a majority vote. It's just the arrogance of the people that set up and agreed to the referendum that thought nobody would vote for it meant that they didn't define what the majority should be. >50%, 60%, 75% etc. It was a massive failure of state craft made easier because the case to remain hinged on a "if you're not with us you're a racist" argument that didn't go down well to win people over.