1993 Russian government referendum
A four-part referendum was held in Russia on 25 April 1993.[1] Voters were asked questions on confidence in President Boris Yeltsin, support for the government's socio-economic policies and early elections for both the presidency and parliament.[1] The referendum was initiated by the Congress of People's Deputies, which stipulated that Yeltsin would need to obtain 50% of the electorate rather than 50% of valid votes. The Constitutional Court ruled that the president required only a simple majority on two issues (confidence in him and economic and social policy) but that he would still needed the support of more than half the electorate in order to call new parliamentary and presidential elections.
Three of the four questions – confidence in Yeltsin, support for the government's socio-economic policies, and early elections for the Congress of People's Deputies – were approved by a majority of participating voters, while voters rejected the proposal of holding early presidential elections.[2] The proposal for early elections for the Congress of People's Deputies failed due to the quorum of 50% of all registered voters not being met.
Questions
editThe four questions were:[2]
- Do you have confidence in the President of the Russian Federation, Boris N. Yeltsin?
- Do you support the economic and social policy that has been conducted since 1992 by the President and Government of the Russian Federation?
- Should there be early elections for the President of the Russian Federation?
- Should there be early elections for the People's Deputies of the Russian Federation?
Results
edit| Question | For | Against | Invalid/ blank |
Total votes |
Registered voters |
Turnout | Electorate for (%) |
Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||||
| Confidence in Yeltsin | 40,405,811 | 59.9 | 26,995,268 | 40.1 | 1,468,868 | 68,869,947 | 107,310,374 | 64.2 | – | Approved |
| Support for the economic and social policy | 36,476,202 | 54.3 | 30,640,781 | 45.7 | 1,642,883 | 68,759,866 | 64.1 | – | Approved | |
| Early presidential elections | 32,418,972 | 48.8 | 34,027,310 | 51.2 | 2,316,247 | 68,762,529 | 64.1 | 30.21 | Rejected | |
| Early elections for People's Deputies | 46,232,197 | 69.1 | 20,712,605 | 30.9 | 1,887,258 | 68,832,060 | 64.1 | 43.08 | Quorum not met | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver | ||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- ^ a b Nohlen & Stöver, p1647