Venezuelan people vote overwhelmingly in favor of a referendum against President Maduro

​After more than 100 consecutive days of popular protests, Venezuelan opposition and civil society groups organized a ‘plebiscite’, a popular referendum, challenging the official Constitutional Assembly that President Nicolás Maduro has convened for July 30, 2017.

The July 16 referendum posed three questions:

1. Do you reject and refuse to recognize the formation of a Constitutional Assembly as proposed by Nicolás Maduro without the prior approval of the Venezuelan people?

2. Do you demand that the Armed Forces and all public officials obey and defend the 1999 Constitution and support the decisions of the National Assembly?

3. Do you approve the renovation of public powers as established in the Constitution, and the holding of free and transparent elections as well as the formation of a government of national unity to reinstate constitutional order?

In total, 7,676,894 Venezuelans voted in the referendum, and results showed overwhelming support for the “yes” side. Any Venezuelan 18 years of age or older could vote, whether in the electoral register or not, and regardless of current country of residence. 667 polling stations were established abroad, in 602 cities across 100 countries.