1980 Nepalese governmental system referendum

A referendum on the system of government was held in Nepal on 2 May 1980. Voters were offered the choice between a non-partisan panchayat system and a multi-party system. The panchayat system received a slim majority of 54.99%, whereas Multi-Party System only received 45.2% of the total votes. Voter turnout was 66.9%.

1980 Nepalese governmental system referendum

2 May 1980
Results
Choice Votes % Panchayat system 2,433,452 54.79% Multi-party system 2,007,965 45.21% Valid votes 4,441,417 92.27% Invalid or blank votes 372,069 7.73% Total votes 4,813,486 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 7,192,451 66.92%
Results by district Panchayat   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   >90% Multi-party   50-60%   60-70%

Background

With the backdrop of mass student protests against his rule in the spring of 1979, King Birendra made a public declaration on May 23, 1979, that a referendum with universal adult suffrage with secret vote would be held in which the people of Nepal would be able to choose between introducing a multiparty system or retain the non-party panchayat regime.

On 21 January 1980, King Birendra published the Referendum Rules, stating that after the referendum 'His Majesty shall make such provisions in the Constitution of Nepal as may deem necessary'.

Method of voting

Nepalese citizens aged 21 and above were eligible to vote. The voters would mark their choice by stamping either of two colours on the ballot paper, blue for the multiparty system and yellow for the non-party panchayat system. It was speculated at the time that the choice of colours had not been coincidental, since the yellow colour was associated with saintly religious qualities. There is no empirical evidence though, that the choice of colours affected the outcome of the vote.

Results

Choice	Votes	%
Panchayat	2,433,452	54.79
Multi-party	2,007,965	45.21
Invalid/blank votes	372,069	–
Total	4,813,486	100
Registered voters/turnout	7,192,451	66.92
Source: Nohlen et al., Rishikesh, sudd.ch

By region

Choice	Hills		Inner-Tarai		Mountains		Plains
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Panchayat	1,126,169	57.2	87,895	34.0	228,617	71.1	848,754	44.6
Multi-party	844,124	42.8	139,021	66.0	86,658	28.9	938,162	55.4
Invalid/blank votes	158,581	–	20,645	–	25,061	–	69,041	–
Total	2,127,615	100	278,780	100	340,338	100	2,066,753	100
Source: Rishikesh

By district

The panchayat partyless system option got a majority in 54 out of the 75 districts of Nepal. The highest percentage of pro-panchayat votes was recorded in Dolpo (96.4%), the lowest in Bhaktapur (34.4%). The highest scores for the multiparty system option were recorded in Bhaktapur (65.6%), Udaipur (65.1%), Siraha (64%) and Bardiya (62.1%). In general, the multiparty system option performed better in areas with higher literacy levels.

District		Electorate	Turnout	Invalid votes	Votes		Proportion of votes
					Panchayat	Multiparty	Panchayat	Multiparty
	Jhapa District	168,184	81.61%	10,721	72,337	54,198	57.17%	42.83%
	Ilam District	76,142	77.26%	5,459	28,525	24,841	53.45%	46.55%
	Panchthar District	71,514	73.78%	2,797	28,442	21,523	56.92%	43.08%
	Taplejung District	56,785	59.83%	3,368	17,597	13,012	57.49%	42.51%
	Morang District	208,774	79.37%	14,737	72,589	78,382	48.08%	51.92%
	Sunsari District	152,000	82.17%	11,353	54,853	58,696	48.31%	51.69%
	Dhankuta District	61,483	71.61%	2,269	31,496	10,265	75.42%	24.58%
	Bhojpur District	100,289	60.45%	3,595	37,083	19,951	65.02%	34.98%
	Tehrathum District	47,390	64.95%	1,696	18,171	10,912	62.48%	37.52%
	Sankhuwasabha District	68,190	61.77%	3,021	25,560	13,542	65.37%	34.63%
	Siraha District	196,875	79.37%	15,652	50,543	90,065	35.95%	64.05%
	Saptari District	197,303	76.82%	10,189	71,053	70,322	50.26%	49.74%
	Udayapur District	68,730	56.47%	3,289	12,393	23,133	34.88%	65.12%
	Okhaldhunga District	69,351	58.43%	1,848	27,062	11,614	69.97%	30.03%
	Khotang District	107,064	60.83%	2,276	46,576	16,270	74.11%	25.89%
	Solukhumbu District	44,816	62.94%	1,522	20,224	6,461	75.79%	24.21%
	Sarlahi District	197,396	72.85%	6,510	58,409	78,889	42.54%	57.46%
	Dhanusha District	207,695	76.49%	16,545	74,796	67,520	52.56%	47.44%
	Mahottari District	187,552	72.99%	7,509	70,881	58,498	54.79%	45.21%
	Sindhuli District	79,328	59.75%	1,012	27,308	19,077	58.87%	41.13%
	Ramechhap District	86,397	52.17%	2,622	24,930	17,522	58.73%	41.27%
	Dolakha District	82,912	50.57%	2,164	27,987	11,781	70.38%	29.62%
	Dhading District	121,875	53.79%	4,051	39,932	21,572	64.93%	35.07%
	Nuwakot District	100,679	61.45%	8,886	40,486	12,500	76.41%	23.59%
	Rasuwa District	15,423	85.30%	713	9,289	3,154	74.65%	25.35%
	Kathmandu District	219,968	72.73%	7,956	68,140	83,884	44.82%	55.18%
	Lalitpur District	85,189	78.82%	3,631	24,472	39,043	38.53%	61.47%
	Bhaktapur District	76,116	80.26%	2,814	21,346	36,928	36.63%	63.37%
	Kavrepalanchok District	149,697	58.00%	6,515	49,230	31,084	61.30%	38.70%
	Sindhupalchok District	119,736	57.27%	4,490	43,269	20,808	67.53%	32.47%
	Makwanpur District	104,732	61.39%	3,896	34,960	25,443	57.88%	42.12%
	Chitwan District	105,889	72.52%	5,842	31,219	39,731	44.00%	56.00%
	Bara District	146,919	76.49%	5,827	63,114	43,441	59.23%	40.77%
	Parsa District	141,841	72.12%	8,343	63,862	30,091	67.97%	32.03%
	Rautahat District	168,083	71.52%	6,526	54,389	59,294	47.84%	52.16%
	Tanahun District	110,052	62.50%	6,384	24,156	38,243	38.71%	61.29%
	Gorkha District	114,686	63.63%	4,857	43,567	24,556	63.95%	36.05%
	Lamjung District	76,892	68.40%	3,708	24,939	23,950	51.01%	48.99%
	Kaski District	111,221	67.76%	5,579	30,012	39,769	43.01%	56.99%
	Syangja District	148,939	64.98%	8,632	46,205	41,941	52.42%	47.58%
	Manang District	3,960	90.18%	35	3,043	493	86.06%	13.94%
	Rupandehi District	163,347	71.17%	9,380	52,664	54,204	49.28%	50.72%
	Nawalparasi District	128,456	73.39%	7,159	47,275	39,842	54.27%	45.73%
	Kapilvastu District	136,312	75.09%	6,908	49,751	45,700	52.12%	47.88%
	Gulmi District	128,168	63.13%	8,904	36,279	35,735	50.38%	49.62%
	Arghakhanchi District	79,900	56.53%	3,001	21,812	20,356	51.73%	48.27%
	Palpa District	101,930	63.52%	3,956	26,961	33,831	44.35%	55.65%
	Parbat District	80,165	62.25%	2,128	30,831	16,945	64.53%	35.47%
	Myagdi District	47,755	69.59%	1,149	21,036	11,049	65.56%	34.44%
	Mustang District	7,924	87.06%	321	5,898	680	89.66%	10.34%
	Baglung District	113,046	63.94%	5,712	45,059	21,516	67.68%	32.32%
	Humla District	34,920	78.69%	1,857	21,518	4,102	83.99%	16.01%
	Jumla District	11,480	71.04%	617	4,783	2,755	63.45%	36.55%
	Dolpa District	11,518	91.86%	984	9,261	336	96.50%	3.50%
	Mugu District	21,357	76.89%	1,222	12,844	2,356	84.50%	15.50%
	Kalikot District	44,694	77.76%	4,029	26,211	4,516	85.30%	14.70%
	Dang District	113,070	62.58%	6,283	29,173	35,303	45.25%	54.75%
	Salyan District	72,133	55.37%	3,117	21,755	15,070	59.08%	40.92%
	Pyuthan District	77,308	58.12%	2,666	30,245	12,019	71.56%	28.44%
	Rolpa District	85,147	52.84%	3,599	28,983	12,408	70.02%	29.98%
	Rukum District	62,453	56.84%	6,099	19,919	9,478	67.76%	32.24%
	Banke District	90,331	73.91%	7,856	37,769	21,138	64.12%	35.88%
	Bardiya District	74,220	80.83%	9,353	19,192	31,448	37.90%	62.10%
	Surkhet District	66,216	67.83%	4,119	19,021	21,777	46.62%	53.38%
	Dailekh District	80,877	55.56%	3,843	26,357	14,739	64.14%	35.86%
	Jajarkot District	46,392	61.44%	7,667	11,805	9,033	56.65%	43.35%
	Kailali District	109,638	59.32%	10,225	27,703	27,104	50.55%	49.45%
	Doti District	81,663	41.36%	3,080	15,135	15,559	49.31%	50.69%
	Achham District	106,712	47.25%	3,849	28,350	18,226	60.87%	39.13%
	Bajhang District	65,947	58.41%	2,486	25,325	10,707	70.28%	29.72%
	Bajura District	37,215	58.30%	1,557	14,416	5,723	71.58%	28.42%
	Kanchanpur District	72,321	58.02%	4,248	18,382	19,330	48.74%	51.26%
	Dadeldhura District	45,600	47.89%	2,308	9,235	10,296	47.28%	52.72%
	Baitadi District	92,377	38.80%	2,287	18,308	15,245	54.56%	45.44%
	Darchula District	43,772	52.24%	1,167	14,661	7,040	67.56%	32.44%
Source: Election Commission

The Hindu community was more or less evenly divided between the two options. The Muslim community is said to have voted predominantly in favour of the panchayat system. Ethnic groups like Tamang, Sherpa, Magar, Gurung and Kirati overwhelmingly supported the panchayat option, whilst the Tharu are said to have been predominantly in favour of the multiparty system.