1980 Chilean constitutional referendum

none thumb|right|180px|Original ballot A constitutional referendum was held in Chile on 11 September 1980.Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p262 978-0-19-928358-3 The proposed new constitution would replace the 1925 constitution, and was approved by over two-thirds of voters.Nohlen, p. 268 The referendum was controversial, as Chile was then being ruled by a military dictatorship, and it ensured that Augusto Pinochet would remain in power with a rule by decree until 1988, after which he was peacefully removed from power following a popular referendum. A referendum held in 2020 after waves of popular protests approved the drafting of a new constitution. In September 2022, the proposed left-wing document was rejected, 62% to 38%.Schmidt Samantha 5 September 2022 Chilean voters decisively reject leftist constitution en-US Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/04/chile-votes-constitution-referendum/ 2022-09-05 0190-8286 5 September 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220905053305/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/04/chile-votes-constitution-referendum/ live https://www.latercera.com/politica/noticia/plebiscito-chile-rechaza-propuesta-de-nueva-constitucion/2LDNK3XR6RGN5FJRJ5IDLT74JM Plebiscito: Chile rechaza propuesta de nueva Constitución con histórica participación de más de 12 millones de personas La Tercera 4 September 2022 4 September 2022 4 September 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220904232625/https://www.latercera.com/politica/noticia/plebiscito-chile-rechaza-propuesta-de-nueva-constitucion/2LDNK3XR6RGN5FJRJ5IDLT74JM/ live Following a second process, in December 2023, a proposed right-wing replacement was rejected, 56% to 44%.2023-12-17 Chilean voters reject conservative constitution, after defeating leftist charter last year https://apnews.com/article/chile-new-constitution-referendum-f7be231ff564856f6a5e1b0c0ac12c57 2023-12-18 AP News en 2023-12-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20231218053713/https://apnews.com/article/chile-new-constitution-referendum-f7be231ff564856f6a5e1b0c0ac12c57 live These outcomes effectively guaranteed the 1980 charter would remain in effect.2023-12-17 Chileans reject conservative constitution to replace dictatorship-era text https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chileans-head-polls-again-replace-dictatorship-era-constitution-2023-12-17/ 2023-12-18 Reuters Background Under the rule of Augusto Pinochet, the Ortúzar Commission (1973–1978) drafted a proposal for a new constitution.Cordero Rodrigo Mascareño Aldo Henríquez Pablo A. Ruz Gonzalo A. 2022 Drawing constitutional boundaries: A digital historical analysis of the writing process of Pinochet's 1980 authoritarian constitution https://doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2022.2065396 Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History 55 3 145–167 10.1080/01615440.2022.2065396 248470572 0161-5440 subscription Electoral system In the election, Chileans older than 18 years of age (including the illiterate and blind), as well as foreigners with legal residence in Chile older than 18 years of age who could prove their proper immigration status, were allowed to vote. Participation was obligatory except for those who were physically or mentally impaired or imprisoned. To vote, the only document required was a certificate of identity issued by the Civil and Identification Registry Service. No electoral roll was prepared for the referendum, and the previous one was expired by means of a decree of the Military Junta issued on November 13, 1973 and that authorized the Directorate of the Electoral Registry to disable said files, which resulted in their destruction in July 1974.https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=5789 Decreto Ley 130 Declara la caducidad de todos los registros electorales del país Ministerio del Interior 13 November 1973 14 April 2022 LeyChile https://archivo.servel.cl/index.php/decreto-1049-del-ministerio-del-interior-relativo-a-destruccion-de-registros-electorales Decreto 1049 del Ministerio del Interior, relativo a la destrucción de registros electorales 17 June 1974 14 April 2022 Archivo Histórico Servel https://www.servel.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Libro_exdirector_del_Servel.pdf Un chileno que dedicó su vida a las elecciones Servicio Electoral de Chile 2017 28 March 2022 Servel 6 October 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20211006205307/https://www.servel.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Libro_exdirector_del_Servel.pdf dead New constitution The proposed new constitution gave the position of President of the Republic significant powers. It created some new institutions, such as the controversial National Security Council (COSENA). In its temporary dispositions, the document ordered the transition from the former military government, with Augusto Pinochet as President of the Republic, and the Legislative Power of the Government Junta (formed by the heads of the Navy, Air Force, National Police, and a representative of the Army, the head of the Army being President of the Republic), to a civil one, with a time frame of eight years, during which the legislative power would still be the Military Junta. It set the first eight-year presidential term for Pinochet, with a referendum in the eighth year, in which only one candidate, nominated by the Junta, would be up for acceptance. The candidate, as expected, was Pinochet himself. While the steps to follow in the case of a triumph of the "yes" option, which the document clearly anticipated, were clearly delineated, the steps for the "no" triumph were less clear but still clear enough that no serious doubt emerged when the "no" option actually was victorious in the 1988 referendum. Some of the 1980 constitution's original provisions, such as the presidential power of dissolving the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of Congress) and serving eight-year terms with possibility of re-election, were modified or eliminated after 1990, when the country regained its democracy and the Congress was re-established. Results The results supplied by the Colegio Escrutador Nacional (National Election Observer Association) were as follows. Blank votes were counted in favor of the "Yes" option. Choice For 3 For 4121067 #47729E #47729E Blank 83812 white 4204879 Against 1893420 #8B8B54 173569 y 6753656 Aftermath right|thumb|220px|1980 constitution The new constitution took effect on 11 March 1981. On this date a transition period of eight years began, during which General Pinochet, acting as President of the Republic and the Military Regime (Junta), exercised constituent and legislative power. Accusations of fraud The results of the referendum were disputed by the political opposition, headed by former senator Patricio Aylwin, and 46 other representatives, who argued that there had not been any electoral records and that the only anti-fraud measure was an ink mark on the thumb, which was easily removed. These criticisms were rejected by the National Scrutinizing College, made up of the Comptroller General of the Republic, Osvaldo Iturriaga; the minister of the Court of Appeals of Santiago, Arnoldo Dreyse; and the secretary of the Supreme Court, René Pica.https://books.google.com/books?id=tEhACQAAQBAJ&q=la+campa%C3%B1a+de+los+30+dias&pg=PA720 La historia oculta del régimen militar Ascanio Cavallo 2008 9789568601348 16 September 2015 Spanish Nazer Ricardo A. Rosemblit Jaime B. Electores, sufragio y democracia en Chile: una mirada histórica http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/documento_detalle.asp?id=MC0018630 2000 Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales 48 Spanish In Antofagasta, former deputy and former mayor Juan Floreal Recabarren denounced the possibility of voting numerous times by removing the adhesive seal from his identity card (delivered when he voted for the first time that day) and cleaning his thumb of the ink. He was later detained by the authorities.http://www.memoriachilena.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0039022.pdf El "Sí" de las regiones Hoy 17 September 1980 2 June 2014 Spanish Other accusations of fraud are related to the fact that the mayors of the time (appointed by the dictatorship) held a lottery to define the members of each polling station, which were made up exclusively of supporters of the regime and collaborators belonging to large companies such as Soprole, Mingo, Neut Latour Forestal, Banco de Chile, BHC, Lan Chile, Banco Sud Americano and Embotelladora Andina, among others. The figure of the polling station representatives did not exist either, so the opposition did not have access to supervise the electoral process.https://www.ciperchile.cl/2020/08/08/a-40-anos-del-plebiscito-de-pinochet/ A 40 años del plebiscito de Pinochet Fuentes, Claudio Ciper 8 August 2020 23 March 2021 Spanish In December 1987, Cauce magazine published a report prepared by Eduardo Hamuy in conjunction with the Academy of Christian Humanism in which observations made at 981 polling stations in Greater Santiago on the day of the 1980 plebiscite were compiled, and numerous cases of fraud were found. Some of the reported cases include votes for "No" or invalid votes that were added to the "Yes" tally, people who voted more than once, a mismatch between the number of numbered stubs and the total number of votes cast, and scrutiny carried out without the presence of public observers, among other irregularities.http://www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.gob.cl/visor/BND:84107 El Plebiscito de 1980. Un problema de legitimidad Hamuy, Eduardo Cauce 17 December 1987 23 March 2021 26–29 PDF Spanish In June 2012, Jorgelino Vergara, a former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional and National Information Center (Chile) agent, revealed that more than 3,000 members of that institution were ordered to vote more than once in the plebiscite, going to different polling places during the day.https://www.latercera.com/noticia/ex-agente-de-la-dina-afirma-que-hubo-fraude-en-plebiscito-constitucional-de-1980-en-chile/ Ex agente de la DINA afirma que hubo fraude en plebiscito constitucional de 1980 en Chile La Tercera 11 June 2012 23 March 2021 Spanish See also Constitutional history of Chile Chilean Constitution of 1833 Chilean Constitution of 1925 Chilean Constitution of 1980 References Nazer A., Ricardo Rosemblit B., Jaime http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/documento_detalle.asp?id=MC0018630 Electores, sufragio y democracia en Chile: una mirada histórica 2000 Mapocho Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales 48 Silva Bascuñán, Alejandro Tratado de Derecho Constitucional. Tomo III: La Constitución de 1980. Antecedentes y génesis. 1997 956-10-1178-6 Ed. Jurídica de Chile Santiago de Chile Decree 3465 of August 8, 1980, Interior Ministry of Chile. Brief review of Chile's constitutional history - Chile's Library of Congress (in Spanish) External links es Constitución Política de la República de Chile Constitution of Chile (in Spanish) Official translation of the original 1980 Constitution https://web.archive.org/web/20110514094542/http://confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/Chile.pdf 2011-05-14 (PDF file) Text of Chilean constitutions - Library of Congress of Chile es Category:1980 referendums Category:Referendums in Chile Category:Legal history of Chile Referendum Category:Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) Category:Constitutional referendums in Chile Category:September 1980 in South America