RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The referendum in Chile was held on Sunday, Octrober 25th, with a resounding result in favor of reforming the constitution. After last year’s social protests, it was decided to consult citizens if they wanted to begin the process of promulgating a new Chilean constitution, replacing the one approved during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1980.
The final results, with all the votes already counted, were conclusive, as a huge majority voted in favor of creating a new constituent assembly.
The citizens were asked two questions. The first was “Do you want a new constitution? A little over 78%, that is almost 6 million people, voted ”I approve“, while almost 22%, which represented more than one and a half million voters, said ”I do not approve“.
The second question to be answered by the citizens, which would only be effective if they won ”Approval“ in the first consultation, was: ”What kind of body should write the New Constitution? The option for it to be written by a Constitutional Convention with new representatives elected by the people got almost 79%, while the option for a Joint Constitutional Convention, with some new representatives and some current parliamentarians, took 21% of the votes.
Just over 7.5 million people voted, representing a 50 per cent turnout, as there were almost 15 million eligible voters. Taking into account that it was not compulsory and that participation levels are low in Chile, it was higher than expected. The “Apruebo” also exceeded expectations, as it was believed that it would win, but not by such a large margin.
Although the option for the promulgation of a new constitution triumphed, the process does not end on Sunday~rather it has just begun. The next step will be on 11 April 2021, when elections will be held for the Constituent Assembly. The current parliament will have to decide how the election is to be carried out–how candidates for the Assembly are to be chosen and elected. The elected representatives will then have nine months to draft a new constitution. When it is finished, there will be an “exit” ratification referendum to repeal the old constitution, which will probably take place during 2022.