1976 Spanish political reform referendum

A referendum on political reform was held in Spain on Wednesday, 15 December 1976, to gauge support for either the ratification or repealing of the Political Reform Act which had been approved by the Cortes Españolas on 18 November 1976. The question asked was "Do you approve of the Political Reform Bill?" (Spanish: ¿Aprueba el Proyecto de Ley para la Reforma Política?). The referendum resulted in 97.4% of valid votes in support of the bill on a turnout of 77.7%.[1][2][3]

1976 Spanish political reform referendum
15 December 1976 (1976-12-15)
Do you approve of the Political Reform Bill?
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 16,573,180 97.36%
No 450,102 2.64%
Valid votes 17,023,282 96.73%
Invalid or blank votes 576,280 3.27%
Total votes 17,599,562 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 22,644,290 77.72%

Purpose

The Political Reform Act (Spanish: Ley 1/1977 de 4 de enero) was the last of the Fundamental Laws of the Realm and was approved by the Cortes on 18 November 1976. Its aim was to move away from the dictatorship of the Franco era and turn Spain into a constitutional monarchy with a parliament system based on representative democracy. It had been drafted by the President of the Cortes Españolas, Torcuato Fernández-Miranda (including changes that would replace the Cortes Españolas with a Cortes Generales), and supported by Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez and King Juan Carlos. The law provided for the legalisation of political parties and a democratic election to Constituent Cortes, a committee of which then drafted the Constitution.[4]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading choice's colour. The "Lead" columns on the right show the percentage-point difference between the "Yes" and "No" choices in a given poll.

Results

Overall
Question

Do you approve of the Political Reform Bill?

Referendum results
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 16,573,180 97.36
No 450,102 2.64
Valid votes 17,023,282 96.73
Invalid or blank votes 576,280 3.27
Total votes 17,599,562 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 22,644,290 77.72
Source: Ministry of the Interior[6]

Results by region
Region Electorate Turnout Yes No
Votes  % Votes  %
Andalusia 3,622,509 81.90 2,840,336 98.16 53,219 1.84
Aragon 798,926 85.32 642,779 97.80 14,464 2.20
Asturias 740,394 73.02 502,438 95.82 21,905 4.18
Balearic Islands 379,205 84.22 303,624 98.21 5,522 1.79
Basque Country 1,277,885 53.86 627,499 96.47 22,956 3.53
Canary Islands 740,781 75.51 537,626 98.34 9,099 1.66
Cantabria 282,506 78.22 198,337 93.05 14,812 6.95
Castile and León 1,687,294 82.52 1,305,391 97.26 36,744 2.74
Castilla–La Mancha 1,052,985 84.71 840,286 96.21 33,058 3.79
Catalonia 3,710,652 74.10 2,567,147 97.79 58,146 2.21
Extremadura 675,902 81.97 532,170 97.96 11,067 2.04
Galicia 1,837,841 69.84 1,225,329 98.04 24,547 1.96
La Rioja 140,606 87.15 133,862 98.30 2,312 1.70
Madrid 2,612,402 78.21 1,883,630 95.91 80,304 4.09
Murcia 540,602 82.41 427,251 97.70 10,046 2.30
Navarre 318,797 73.63 217,879 96.99 6,766 3.01
Valencian Community 2,149,069 85.72 1,745,436 97.58 43,286 2.42
Total 22,644,290 77.72 16,573,180 97.36 450,102 2.64
Sources[6]

References
  1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1824 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. "Spain, 15 December 1976: Political Reform Act". sudd.ch (in German). Direct Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  3. "Referéndum sobre el Proyecto de Ley para la Reforma Política". congreso.es (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. "1978: Spain set to vote for democracy". BBC News. 6 December 1978. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. "El 80% votará "sí" en el referéndum". El País (in Spanish). 15 December 1976.
  6. "Electoral Results Consultation. Referendum. December 1976. National totals". infoelectoral.mir.es (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
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