2014 Egyptian constitutional referendum

Last updated

2014 Egyptian constitutional referendum
Flag of Egypt.svg
14–15 January 2014

Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes19,985,38998.13%
Light brown x.svgNo381,3411.87%
Valid votes20,366,73098.80%
Invalid or blank votes246,9471.20%
Total votes20,613,677100.00%
Registered voters/turnout53,423,48538.59%

Egyptian constitutional referendum 2014.svg
Results by Governorate

A constitutional referendum was held in Egypt on 14 and 15 January 2014, [1] with Egyptians abroad voting between 8 and 12 January. [2] The new constitution was approved by 98.1% of voters. Turnout was 38.6%. [3]

Background

President Mohamad Morsi was removed from power during the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état. [4] The timetable established by interim president Adly Mansour envisioned a rapid transition, which initially entailed amending the suspended 2012 constitution. [4]

The process of amending the 2012 constitution began with a committee of 10 legal experts. [5] The draft amendments by the committee of 10 made many notable changes to the text of the 2012 constitution. [6] The committee of 10 completed their work on 20 August 2013. [7]

The second phase of the process included amendments by a committee of 50; those 50 people were announced on 1 September 2013. [8] Amr Moussa was chosen as the chairman of the committee of 50 on 8 September 2013. [9] The draft constitution was given to President Mansour on 3 December 2013. [10]

Campaign

Supporters

The Dignity Party backed the constitution. [11] The Free Egyptians Party supported it. [12] The Socialist Popular Alliance Party as well as the Socialist Party of Egypt also supported the constitution. [11] The Popular Current had said that it supported the constitution. [13] The Nour Party said it would support the constitution. [14] Tamarod started a campaign on 5 December 2013 in support of the constitution. [15] The Egyptian Trade Union Federation called on its supporters to vote for the constitution. [16] The National Salvation Front said that it would call for a yes vote on the constitution. [17] The Egyptian Social Democratic Party voted for the constitution. [18]

Opponents

Khaled Ali, a former presidential candidate, was opposed to the constitution; he stated that it was "inappropriate" for Egypt. [19] The Revolutionary Socialists also expressed their opposition to it. [20] The Road of the Revolution Front announced on 8 January 2014 that it would vote against the constitution. [21] The Freedom and Justice Party and the Islamic Bloc, which had won 65.3% of the vote in Egypt's parliamentary elections in 2011–2012, opposed the new Constitution and the referendum as being the fruits of an illegal military coup. [22]

Boycotts

The Anti-Coup Alliance, which includes the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Freedom and Justice Party, announced on 22 December 2013 that it would boycott the vote. [23] The Strong Egypt Party and the April 6 Youth Movement also indicated that they would boycott the vote. [24] The Strong Egypt Party was initially going to mobilize for a "no" vote, [25] but changed their stance after members of the party were arrested for having posters which supported the "no" campaign. [26]

According to the official results, turnout was 38.9%. Turnout in the constitutional referendum of 2012 had been 32.9%. [3]

Conduct

Tamarod, [27] the European Union [28] and 27,000 observers were expected to monitor the referendum; judges affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood were excluded from supervising polling stations. [29]

According to Human Rights Watch, 11 people were killed in the clashes on 14 January 2014. [30] However, according to the Health ministry, 8 people died in the first day of voting [30] and two people died in the second day of voting. [31]

In the weeks before the voting there were massive arrests of persons opposing the Constitution or the referendum. [32]

Results

Voter participation was about 38.6 percent according to Egyptian government figures that were challenged by the Muslim Brotherhood, which had called of a boycott because the vote was taking place after a military coup. There were almost 20 million total votes in favor. The vote was held with support for a "yes" vote by the Egyptian government and state media as well as a crackdown on those against it. [33]

For comparison, about 16.7 million voters participated in the vote approving the constitution drafted under Morsi. This represented a turnout of 32.9 percent despite a boycott of the vote by non-Islamist factions. Of those that participated in that election, 63.8 percent voted for the Morsi-backed constitution, or about 10.65 million "yes" votes. [33]

ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes19,985,38998.13
No381,3411.87
Valid votes20,366,73098.8
Invalid or blank votes246,9471.2
Total votes20,613,677100.00
Registered voters/turnout53,423,48538.6
Source: Al Ahram

By governorate

Turnout rate by governorate for the Egyptian constitutional referendum of 14-15 January 2014. Egyptian constitutional referendum 2014 Turnout.svg
Turnout rate by governorate for the Egyptian constitutional referendum of 14–15 January 2014.
GovernorateEligible votersVoter turnoutTurnout %Total votesValid votesInvalid votes"Yes" votes"Yes" %"No" votes"No" %
Cairo 6,674,8652,688,74340.3%2,791,2332,762,95228,2812,720,16298.5%42,7901.5%
Giza 4,518,9411,450,19532.1%1,507,4161,488,66218,7541,459,20198.0%29,4612.0%
Dakahlia 3,793,0801,876,90149.5%1,891,6171,874,59717,0201,850,53598.7%24,0621.3%
Sharqia 3,681,5871,666,49345.3%1,691,3601,673,96817,3921,646,73698.4%27,2321.6%
Alexandria 3,415,6291,308,97138.3%1,353,6321,340,44913,1831,319,45498.4%20,9951.6%
Beheira 3,376,9411,260,62437.3%1,276,9801,260,50316,4771,234,01997.9%26,4842.1%
Gharbia 3,020,6741,574,17352.1%1,586,4961,572,17614,3201,551,09398.7%21,0831.3%
Minya 2,808,534734,51226.2%740,233723,19317,040698,62196.6%24,5723.4%
Qalyubia 2,718,7981,204,97144.3%1,231,0321,217,22013,8121,198,01198.4%19,2091.6%
Sohag 2,485,950592,39123.8%600,503591,4969,007574,79797.2%16,6992.8%
Monufia 2,298,2081,226,15453.4%1,242,2191,228,81113,4081,212,26898.7%16,5431.3%
Asyut 2,219,387538,87324.3%547,539536,53211,007515,57196.1%20,9613.9%
Kafr el-Sheikh 1,935,985817,90442.2%823,516815,0388,478803,94098.6%11,0981.4%
Qena 1,676,423400,66823.9%410,770405,0645,706395,43997.6%9,6252.4%
Faiyum 1,628,192385,60123.7%391,609383,3848,225370,80296.7%12,5823.3%
Beni Suef 1,506,498490,67032.6%496,172486,3609,812469,97496.6%16,3863.4%
Aswan 891,699251,58828.2%257,563254,0883,475248,57197.8%5,5172.2%
Damietta 891,241408,61745.8%415,825411,2334,592404,68798.4%6,5461.6%
Ismailia 735,103290,68939.5%299,606295,6713,935289,86398.0%5,8082.0%
Luxor 703,670215,66830.6%220,606218,2032,403214,51098.3%3,6931.7%
Port Said 453,377231,43951.0%239,772237,1882,584233,67298.5%3,5161.5%
Suez 396,466136,65834.5%144,919143,2841,635140,16797.8%3,1172.2%
Red Sea 244,60377,68131.8%108,147106,7581,389103,85897.3%2,9002.7%
North Sinai 223,53369,21731.0%75,96874,5571,41172,16196.8%2,3963.2%
Matruh 224,38536,44516.2%44,72543,91081542,24296.2%1,6683.8%
New Valley 147,52551,92335.2%52,87751,7691,10849,92096.4%1,8493.6%
South Sinai 70,84523,80433.6%64,30163,1231,17860,65196.1%2,4723.9%

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