1993 Russian government referendum
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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 – 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] However, 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
The 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
| 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
- ^ 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
