1978 Spanish constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum was held in Spain on Wednesday, 6 December 1978, to gauge support for either the ratification or repealing of the Spanish Constitution which had been approved by the Cortes Generales on 31 October 1978. The question asked was "Do you approve of the Constitution Bill?" (Spanish: ¿Aprueba el Proyecto de Constitución?). The referendum resulted in 91.8% of valid votes in support of the bill on a turnout of 67.1%.[1][2][3]

1978 Spanish constitutional referendum

6 December 1978
"Do you approve of the Constitution Bill?"
Location	Spain
Results
Response Votes % Yes 15,706,078 91.81% No 1,400,505 8.19% Valid votes 17,106,583 95.71% Invalid or blank votes 766,688 4.29% Total votes 17,873,271 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 26,632,180 67.11%

Purpose

The new constitution was intended to replace the many constitutional laws of the Franco era, the Fundamental Laws of the Realm, and turn Spain into a constitutional monarchy by removing many of the King's powers. The feat of creating a democratic system without breaking the structures of power of the state was made possible by the approval of the Political Reform Act of 1977, passed by the Francoist Cortes as the last Fundamental Law. 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 legalization of political parties and a democratic election to Constituent Cortes, a committee of which then drafted the Constitution.[4]

Results

Overall

Question
Do you approve of the Constitution Bill?

Referendum results

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	15,706,078	91.81
No	1,400,505	8.19
Valid votes	17,106,583	95.71
Invalid or blank votes	766,688	4.29
Total votes	17,873,271	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	26,632,180	67.11
Source: Ministry of the Interior[5]

Results by region

Region		Electorate	Turnout	Yes		No
				Votes	%	Votes	%
	Andalusia	4,347,542	69.51	2,775,521	94.36	165,882	5.64
	Aragon	894,403	73.58	579,734	92.90	44,287	7.10
	Asturias	864,796	61.79	473,348	91.34	44,874	8.66
	Balearic Islands	450,115	70.18	282,598	94.88	15,251	5.12
	Basque Country	1,552,737	44.65	479,205	74.60	163,191	25.40
	Canary Islands	879,963	62.90	508,668	95.46	24,174	4.54
	Cantabria	374,559	71.15	222,559	87.01	33,232	12.99
	Castile and León	1,950,813	71.37	1,184,361	90.28	127,545	9.72
	Castilla–La Mancha	1,207,525	73.82	751,614	87.74	105,034	12.26
	Catalonia	4,398,173	67.91	2,701,870	95.15	137,845	4.85
	Extremadura	765,235	70.51	481,808	92.40	39,637	7.60
	Galicia	2,107,613	50.20	942,097	93.84	61,892	6.16
	La Rioja	192,597	72.46	120,847	91.70	10,940	8.30
	Madrid	3,047,226	72.23	1,896,205	89.49	222,638	10.51
	Murcia	630,268	71.44	408,722	93.59	27,975	6.41
	Navarre	361,243	66.63	182,207	81.70	40,804	18.30
	Valencian Community	2,545,481	74.14	1,676,680	92.72	131,664	7.28
	Total	17,873,271	67.11	15,706,078	91.81	1,400,505	8.19
Sources[5]

Issues

Some Spanish media found up to 30% of irregularities in the census in certain provinces, with many people allegedly being unable to vote while others voted twice.[6] Adolfo Suárez's government had lowered voting age from 21 to 18 only three weeks before the referendum, which resulted in a made-up electoral register increasing by over 3 million people compared to the 1977 general election amid technical, administrative and logistical issues.[7] Interior Ministry officials acknowledged deviations of up to 5.1 per 100 in the electoral census—roughly 1.5 million people according to the National Institute of Statistics—resulting from the absence of an official electoral register and in an overreliance on data from municipal registers.[8]

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1824 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. "Spain, 6 December 1978: Constitution". sudd.ch (in German). Direct Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
3. "Referéndum sobre el Proyecto de Constitución". congreso.es (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
4. 1978: Spain set to vote for democracy BBC News
5. "Electoral Results Consultation. Referendum. December 1978. National totals". infoelectoral.mir.es (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
6. "Editorial | Incompetencia y caos". El País (in Spanish). 7 December 1978. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
7. "Tribuna | El censo electoral: fundamento de la democracia (I)". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 4 April 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
8. "Participación de más del 70 por 100". Arriba (in Spanish). 7 December 1978. Retrieved 18 September 2017.