Bolivia Referendums 2009

Two referendums were held in Bolivia last Sunday, and the CNE has counted around 99.98% of the votes, so here are the results. Turnout was around 90% with the CNE reporting that 3,511,493 voters cast a ballot.

The first referendum was on Morales’ new pro-indigenous constitution

Yes 61.43%
No 38.57%

The second referendum limits the legal size of private property to 5,000 hectares instead of 10,000 hectares.

5k 80.65%
10k 19.35%

Here is a map of the first referendum, to show the clear division between the east and west in Bolivian politics.

The constitution passed overwhelmingly in the mountainous indigenous and poorer regions of western Bolivia, the traditional stronghold of Evo Morales and his party, MAS. Western Bolivia’s economy is heavily dependent on mining. In the mestizo-majority east, flatter and wealthier, the constitution was heavily defeated. The east accounts for about 42% of Bolivia’s GDP and is generally the stronghold of Bolivia’s right-wing (it voted for Quiroga in 2005 against Morales and the right-wing PODEMOS does best here).