1991 Ukrainian sovereignty referendum
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A sovereignty referendum was held in the Ukrainian SSR on 17 March 1991 as part of a USSR-wide referendum. Voters were asked two questions on reforming the Soviet Union into a confederation of sovereign states. Most voters supported the proposal, although in the pro-independence oblasts of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Ternopil, voters opted for independence as part of an additional question.
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Do you agree that Ukraine should be part of a Union of Soviet Sovereign States on the basis on the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The referendum followed the Declaration of State Sovereignty by the republic's parliament on 16 July 1990 as sovereign republic within the Soviet Union in line with the results.[1]
In August 1991, with the New Union Treaty having not been adopted by the Soviet Union, a withdrawal from the USSR was proposed. The overwhelming majority of voters backed the idea in an independence referendum in December, approving a declaration of independence.[2]
Republic-wide
editThroughout the entire Soviet Union, citizens were first asked:
Do you consider necessary the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics in which the rights and freedom of an individual of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?[3]
A boycott campaign reduced the against votes in Western Ukraine.[4]
| Choice | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| For | 22,110,899 | 71.48 | |
| Against | 8,820,089 | 28.52 | |
| Total | 30,930,988 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 30,930,988 | 98.15 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 583,256 | 1.85 | |
| Total votes | 31,514,244 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 37,732,178 | 83.52 | |
The Ukrainian SSR included an additional question for all of the republic's citizens; the voters were asked:
Do you agree that Ukraine should be part of a Union of Soviet Sovereign States on the basis on the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine?[5]
| Choice | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| For | 25,224,687 | 81.69 | |
| Against | 5,655,701 | 18.31 | |
| Total | 30,880,388 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 30,880,388 | 98.14 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 584,703 | 1.86 | |
| Total votes | 31,465,091 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 37,689,767 | 83.48 | |
Provincial
edit
In the Galician provinces of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Ternopil, voters were asked an additional question regarding the creation of an independent state of Ukraine:[6][7]
Do you want the Ukraine to become an independent state that by itself decides all questions of domestic and foreign policy, secures equal rights of citizens regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation?[8]
| Choice | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| For | 88.3 | ||
| Against | 11.7 | ||
| Total | |||
| Source: Katchanovski[9] | |||
References
edit- ^ How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy by Anders Åslund, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2009, ISBN 978-0-88132-427-3 (page 21)
- ^ Independence – over 90% vote yes in referendum; Kravchuk elected president of Ukraine Archived 2017-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, The Ukrainian Weekly (8 December 1991)
- ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p492 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
- ^ Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s: A Minority Faith by Andrew Wilson, Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-521-57457-9 (page 127)
- ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pg. 1985 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
- ^ Dissolution: Sovereignty and the Breakup of the Soviet Union[permanent dead link] by Edward W. Walker, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003, ISBN 0742524523 (134)
- ^ The Ukrainian West: Culture and the Fate of Empire in Soviet Lviv by William Jay Risch, Harvard University Press, 2011, ISBN 0674050010, (page 4)
- ^ Zvi Y. Gitelman (1992). Politics of Nationality and the Erosion of the USSR. p. 218.
- ^ Cleft Countries: Regional Political Divisions and Cultures in Post-Soviet Ukraine and Moldova (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society 33) by Ivan Katchanovski, 2006, ISBN 389821558X (page 40)