2000 French constitutional referendum

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2000 French constitutional referendum
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg
24 September 2000 (2000-09-24)

Reduce the term of the President from seven years to five years.
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes7,407,69773.21%
Light brown x.svgNo2,710,65126.79%
Valid votes10,118,34883.91%
Invalid or blank votes1,940,34016.09%
Total votes12,058,688100.00%
Registered voters/turnout39,941,19230.19%

Referendum 2000 - Resultats par departement.svg
Results by department

A constitutional referendum was held in France on 24 September 2000. [1] The proposal to reduce the mandate of the President from seven years to five years was approved by 73.2% of those who voted, but turnout was just 30.2%. [2]

Contents

Background

The idea of a five-year term was discussed during the French parliamentary session of 1848, but rejected in favor of a four-year term. A seven-year term was adopted in 1873 for what became the Third Republic. In 2000, Jacques Chirac led the campaign for the referendum reducing the President's term from seven to five years. After he was re-elected in 2002, his term ended in 2007 rather than 2009. The aim of the quinquennat (five-year term) was for the legislative elections to follow the presidential election (as the presidential election took place in April–May 2007, while the legislative election took place in June), providing similar electoral results and reducing the risk of cohabitation.

Results

Choice Metropolitan France Total
Votes%Votes%
For7,372,97673.27,407,69773.2
Against2,703,65726.82,710,65126.8
Invalid/blank votes1,939,2821,940,340
Total12,015,91510012,058,688100
Registered voters/turnout39,631,06330.339,941,19230.2
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p674 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p687