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1945 Cambodian referendum

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1945 Cambodian referendum

3 October 1945

Do you want to be free like Jayavarman with the Angkor Wat temples?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Yes 541,470 100.00%
No 0 0.00%
Valid votes 541,470 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00%
Total votes 541,470 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 674,048 80.33%

A six-issue referendum was held in Cambodia on 3 October 1945. The questions included whether the country should become independent, and whether the presence of foreign military forces should be refused. There were no "no" votes to any of the questions, although two had one or two invalid votes.[1] Voter turnout was 80.3%.

Background

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On 10 August Son Ngoc Thanh replaced Prime Minister Ung Hy from power, and held a referendum to try and legitimise his government.

Conduct

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It is not clear whether the referendum was held by voters putting a ballot paper in a box. Thanh sent a list of five questions to provincial governors for them to ask voters.[2] The question on independence was worded:[2]

Do you want to be free like Jayavarman with the Angkor Wat temples?

Results

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Choice Votes %
For 541,470 100
Against 0 0
Invalid/blank votes 0
Total 541,470 100
Registered voters/turnout 674,048 80.33
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p68 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  2. ^ a b Cambodia, 3 October 1945: Independence Democracy