1979 Basque Statute of Autonomy referendum

1979 Basque Statute of Autonomy referendum
25 October 1979 (1979-10-25)
"Do you approve of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country Bill?"
"Yes" ballot for the referendum in Spanish (left) and in Basque (right).
Results
Choice
 Votes %
checkY Yes 831,839 94.60%
☒N No 47,529 5.40%
Valid votes 879,368 95.43%
Invalid or blank votes 42,068 4.57%
Total votes 921,436 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 1,565,541 58.86%

A referendum on the approval of the Basque Statute of Autonomy was held in the Basque Country on Thursday, 25 October 1979. Voters were asked whether they ratified a proposed Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country bill organizing the historical territories of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa into an autonomous community of Spain. The final draft of the bill had been approved by the Basque parliamentary assembly on 29 December 1978, but it required ratification through a binding referendum and its subsequent approval by the Spanish Cortes Generales, as established by Article 151 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.[1][2][3]

The question asked was "Do you approve of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country Bill?" (Spanish: ¿Aprueba el proyecto de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Vasco?).[4] The referendum resulted in 94.6% of valid votes in support of the bill on a turnout of 58.9%.[5][6] Once approved, the bill was submitted to the consideration of the Cortes Generales, which accepted it on 29 November (in the Congress of Deputies) and 12 December (in the Spanish Senate), receiving royal assent on 18 December and published in the Official State Gazette on 22 December 1979.[7][8]

Results

Overall

Question

Do you approve of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country Bill?

Referendum results
Choice Votes %
Referendum passed Yes 831,839 94.60
No 47,529 5.40
Valid votes 879,368 95.43
Invalid or blank votes 42,068 4.47
Total votes 921,436 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 1,565,541 58.86
Source: Basque Government[9]

Results by province

Province Electorate Turnout Yes No
Votes % Votes %
Álava 174,930 63.23 92,535 90.23 10,023 9.77
Biscay 883,609 57.49 460,905 94.81 25,216 5.19
Gipuzkoa 507,002 59.73 278,399 95.77 12,290 4.23
Total 1,565,541 58.86 831,839 94.60 47,529 5.40

See also

References

  1. ^ Constitución Española. Boletín Oficial del Estado (Constitution) (in Spanish). 29 December 1978. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Constitución española. Sinopsis artículo 151". congreso.es (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Los estatutos de autonomía de las nacionalidades históricas". El País (in Spanish). 31 October 1979. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Referendos". congreso.es (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Basque Country (Spain), 25 October 1979: Autonomy Statute". sudd.ch (in German). Direct Democracy. 25 October 1979. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Referéndum sobre el proyecto de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Vasco". congreso.es (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Sinopsis del Estatuto del País Vasco". congreso.es (in Spanish). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  8. ^ Statute of Autonomy for the Basque Country of 1979. Official State Gazette (Organic Law 3) (in Spanish). 18 December 1979. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Election Results Archive". euskadi.eus (in Spanish). Basque Government. Retrieved 1 September 2019.