2003 Colombian constitutional referendum

May 2025 Colombia 2003 10 25 y 1. Incapacity in public office For 93.33 Against 4.68 Invalid 1.99 2. Restricted voting to the electoral roll For 94.35 Against 3.73 Invalid 1.92 3. Abolishing replacement members For 93.27 Against 4.72 Invalid 2.01 4. Congressional input to public broadcasters For 86.52 Against 11.44 Invalid 2.03 5. MPs working for parliamentary services For 93.60 Against 4.67 Invalid 1.72 yes 6. Reduction in size of Congress and councils For 93.00 Against 5.16 Invalid 1.83 7. Removing public officials from office For 94.71 Against 3.65 Invalid 1.65 8. Pensions for public sector workers For 90.06 Against 7.93 Invalid 2.01 9. Abolition of regional and local audit offices For 90.57 Against 7.51 Invalid 1.92 10. No public money for election campaigns For 94.73 Against 4.64 Invalid 1.79 yes 11. Money from abolished audit offices used on health and education For 93.87 Against 4.47 Invalid 1.66 12. Redistribution of education and health funds For 90.16 Against 4.62 Invalid 1.99 13. Freeze government spending for two years For 80.28 Against 17.40 Invalid 2.32 14. Parties with less than 2% of the vote lose legal status For 91.06 Against 7.02 Invalid 1.92 15. Immediate implementation of the reforms For 93.71 Against 4.62 Invalid 1.66 A fifteen-part constitutional referendum was held in Colombia on 25 October 2003. Whilst all fifteen proposals were approved by voters, only one question had a sufficient numbers of votes to pass the 25% quorum requirement.Colombia, 25 October 2003: Incapacity in public office, who takes on possession Direct Democracy de Background After taking office in August 2002, President Álvaro Uribe put forward several constitutional reforms. The Congress approved the proposals on 20 December 2002, but also suggested several changes, including reducing the size of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate by a fifth rather than creating a unicameral Congress, and forcing parties that received less than 2% of the vote in elections to disband. Uribe subsequently signed the changes into law, and they were submitted to the Constitutional Court on 22 January 2003. On 9 July the Court passed judgement that the referendum was valid, but that four questions were not acceptable. Under articles 374 and 378 of the Constitution, proposed amendments to the constitution require a quorum of 25% of registered voters casting a valid vote, and a majority of those who have voted to vote in favour. Results #SubjectForAgainstInvalidQuorumBlank votesTotalRegisteredvotersTurnoutVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%1Incapacity in public office5,874,19393.33294,3484.68125,2661.996,293,80725.11379,2436,673,05025,069,77326.622Restricted voting to the electoral roll5,871,35494.35232,1213.73119,2131.926,222,68824.82450,3623Abolishing replacement members5,839,61293.27295,6164.72125,8502.016,261,07824.97411,9724Congressional input to public broadcasters5,319,55786.52703,63411.44124,9152.036,148,10624.52524,9445MPs working for parliamentary services5,668,81993.60283,0304.67104,4061.726,056,25524.16616,7956Reduction in size of Congress and councils5,328,73393.00295,9085.16105,0401.835,729,68122.85943,3697Removing public officials from office5,403,13994.71208,1003.6593,9821.655,705,22122.76967,8298Pensions for public sector workers5,602,82390.06493,5637.93124,9262.016,221,31224.82451,7389Abolition of regional and local audit offices5,557,95090.57460,9417.51117,9461.926,136,83724.48536,21310No public money for election campaigns5,174,73894.73283,4404.64109,1041.796,107,28224.36565,76811Money from abolished audit offices used on health and education5,668,87893.87270,0394.47100,3841.666,039,30124.09633,74912Redistribution of education and health funds5,587,46990.16285,8424.62123,2281.996,187,53924.68485,51113Freeze government spending for two years4,907,28380.281,063,87717.40141,5452.326,112,70524.38560,34514Parties with less than 2% of the vote lose legal status5,457,86691.06420,8597.02115,3001.925,994,02523.91679,02515Immediate implementation of the reforms5,457,95193.71270,2494.6297,1971.665,843,39723.31829,653Source: Direct Democracy Aftermath Following the referendum, President Uribe objected to the presence of 700,000 voters on the electoral roll, whose removal would have meant nine of the fifteen questions passing the quorum. However, his protests were rejected by the National Electoral Council on 19 December 2003. References Category:2003 referendums Category:2003 in Colombia 2003 Category:Pension referendums Category:Constitutional referendums