Early results signal defeat for Australian Indigenous rights referendum

The first polls have closed in Australia's bitterly fought referendum on Indigenous rights, with early results suggesting voters are set to reject reforms to the 122-year-old constitution. Almost 18 million Australians registered to vote in Saturday's landmark referendum on constitutional changes to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for the first time.
The proposed reforms would also create an Indigenous "Voice" to Parliament -- to weigh laws that affect those communities and help address profound social and economic inequality. With almost a fifth of the 8,253 polling places reporting, the "No" campaign was leading "Yes" by 58 to 42 percent. Australia's First Nations peoples have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years.