Referendum or popular consultation

Catalan independence referendum of 1 October 2017

The Catalan government held a referendum on independence that the Constitutional Court had suspended; it reported 90.18% Yes on 43.03% participation.

The vote

Jurisdiction
Catalonia
Organising authority
Government of Catalonia, acting as electoral administration under Law 19/2017 (suspended and later annulled)
Legal character
Legal status contestedThe Catalan law declared the result binding, but the Constitutional Court suspended it before the vote and then declared it void, holding that the referendum could not be considered held in law.[1][2] The original question shown is the Castilian text published in the DOGC; the law required it in Catalan, Castilian and Occitan.[3]
Geographical scope
Catalonia
Question on the ballot
“¿Quiere que Cataluña sea un estado independiente en forma de república?”
“Do you want Catalonia to be an independent state in the form of a republic?”

English translation: editorial translation.

Reported results[4][3][2]. Percentages: share of valid votes.
OptionVotesOfficial %Calculated %
Yes 2,044,038 90.18% 90.18%
No 177,547 7.83% 7.83%
Blank 44,913 1.98% 1.98%
Valid votes
2,266,498
Invalid votes
19,719
Blank votes
Not reported
Total ballots cast
2,286,217
Registered electorate
5,313,564
Turnout
43.03%official figure

Figures and percentages are those published by the Catalan government; percentages are shares of valid votes including blank ballots. They are not official results under Spanish law.

Assessments of the vote

A declared result and an assessment of the vote’s legal effect or legitimacy are different claims. Each is attributed.

  • Tribunal Constitucional (Spain) · Judicial assessment

    Declared Law 19/2017 unconstitutional and void and held that the referendum could not be considered to have been held in law.[2]

Limitations and competing accounts

The count was conducted by the organisers under a suspended law, with no recognised electoral authority; the Catalan government said it covered verified ballots not seized and that police closed polling stations representing up to 770,000 voters.[5]

What happened

Law 19/2017 called a binding referendum on whether Catalonia should be an independent republic.[3][1] The Constitutional Court suspended the law on 7 September, and the vote went ahead on 1 October.[6]

The Catalan government reported 2,044,038 Yes votes (90.18%) out of 2,286,217 counted, and said that police had closed polling stations representing up to 770,000 voters.[4][5] On 17 October the Constitutional Court declared the law void and held that the referendum could not be considered to have been held in law.[2]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: The law declared the result binding and provided that, if Yes votes outnumbered No votes, the Parliament would formally declare independence within two days of the official results.

    • Parlament de Catalunya, Ley 19/2017, de 6 de septiembre, del referéndum de autodeterminación (Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (via BOE), 6 September 2017) link, art. 4.3–4.4. Source record
  2. 2.

    Claim: On 17 October 2017 the Constitutional Court declared Law 19/2017 unconstitutional and void, holding that the referendum could not be considered to have been held in law.

    • Tribunal Constitucional, Sentencia 114/2017, de 17 de octubre de 2017 (Ley 19/2017 del referéndum de autodeterminación) (Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 24 October 2017) link, Fallo; FJ 2. Source record
  3. 3.

    Claim: Law 19/2017, published on 6 September 2017, called a referendum asking whether Catalonia should be an independent state in the form of a republic, set in Catalan, Castilian and Occitan.

    • Parlament de Catalunya, Ley 19/2017, de 6 de septiembre, del referéndum de autodeterminación (Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (via BOE), 6 September 2017) link, arts. 4.2 and 7.1. Source record
  4. 4.

    Claim: The Catalan government reported that 2,286,217 votes were counted, with 2,044,038 (90.18%) for Yes, 177,547 (7.83%) for No and 44,913 blank votes, on a census of 5,313,564 and a participation of 43.03%. Attributed to Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya

    • Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya, El Govern trasllada els resultats definitius del referèndum de l’1 d’octubre al Parlament de Catalunya (Generalitat de Catalunya, 6 October 2017) link, attached “Resultats definitius”, p. 2. Government perspective or primary official source Source record
  5. 5.

    Claim: The Catalan government’s results sheet stated that the count covered verified ballots not seized, and that polling stations representing up to 770,000 potential voters had been closed by police. Attributed to Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya

    • Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya, El Govern trasllada els resultats definitius del referèndum de l’1 d’octubre al Parlament de Catalunya (Generalitat de Catalunya, 6 October 2017) link, results documents. Government perspective or primary official source Source record
  6. 6.

    Claim: The Constitutional Court admitted the Spanish government’s challenge on 7 September 2017, which suspended the law from that date.

    • Tribunal Constitucional, Sentencia 114/2017, de 17 de octubre de 2017 (Ley 19/2017 del referéndum de autodeterminación) (Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 24 October 2017) link, Antecedentes, 2. Source record

Source note

Show in the notes list