Uruguayan privatisation referendum, 1992

A referendum on partially repealing the law on public enterprises was held in Uruguay on 13 December 1992.^[1] The proposed repeal was approved by 73% of voters.

Background

On 10 January 1991 the General Assembly passed law 16,211 (Law on Public Enterprises), which allowed for the privatisation of some state enterprises.^[1]

Two attempts were made to gain enough support to force a referendum, with a quorum of 25% of registered voters required - equivalent to 589,823 voters. The first attempt gained 448,265 in favour for a partial repeal and 21,473 for a full repeal. The second effort obtained 693,668 for a partial repeal and 14,960 for a full repeal. On 15 October 1992 the Electoral Court decided on a referendum on a partial repeal.^[1]

Results

Choice	Votes	%
For	1,293,016	72.55
Against	489,302	27.45
Unevaluated votes	100,191	–
Invalid/blank votes	59,309	–
Total	1,941,829	100
Registered voters/turnout	2,345,077	82.80
Source: Direct Democracy

Unevaluated votes were those cast by voters outside of their local polling station. They would have been examined after a court had decided on their validity, but as the result was already clear, they were not counted.^[1]

References

1. Uruguay, 13 December 1992: Partial repeal of the law on public enterprises Direct Democracy (German)