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. However, the Constitutional Court ruled that the president required only a simple majority on two issues: confidence in him, and economic and social policy; though he would still need the support of more than half the electorate in order to call new parliamentary and presidential elections.

Three of the four questions were approved by a majority of voters.[2]

Questions

The four questions were:[2]

1. Do you have confidence in the President of the Russian Federation, Boris N. Yeltsin?
2. Do you support the economic and social policy that has been conducted since 1992 by the President and Government of the Russian Federation?
3. Should there be early elections for the President of the Russian Federation?
4. Should there be early elections for the People's Deputies of the Russian Federation?

Results

Question	For		Against		Invalid/ blank	Total votes	Registered voters	Turnout	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	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	Approved
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1642 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1647