A referendum on Chile's provisional constitution was held on 23 October 1818. The provisional constitution, which was successfully adopted, was written by the legislative council at

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Althou ...

's request. The resulting document included 141 articles. It established a Director Supremo with an unlimited term of office who would appoint all judges, governors, offices and secretaries. The Director Supremo could also appoint five members and five alternate members in the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The Senate was granted some limited power to veto actions of the Director Supremo. This provisional constitution also established three provinces with governors, and specified that

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

was the only legal religion. This provisional document was approved, but was replaced with a permanent constitution in 1822.

References

{{Chilean elections Referendums in Chile 1818 referendums

Referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

1818 elections in South America Constitutional referendums in Chile October 1818 events