A constitutional referendum was held in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 16 December 1951.Uruguay, 16 December 1951: Constitution
Direct Democracy The proposed amendments to the constitution were approved by 54% of voters.

Proposals

The proposed changes to the constitution were presented to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

on 31 June 1951. The

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

approved it by a vote of 85 to 14 on 10 October, whilst 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 ...

approved it by a vote of 26 to 4 on 26 October. The amendments would: *reintroduce the colegiado system of government, giving six seats on the National Council of Government to the largest party and three to the second largest party. *provide for a bicameral General Assembly elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. *retain the use of the lema system. *allow petitions for constitutional amendments signed by 10% of registered voters, and allow the General Assembly to put forward a counter-proposal to the proposed amendments.

Results

Aftermath

The colegiado system was reintroduced prior to the 1954 general elections.

References

{{Uruguayan elections 1951 referendums 1951 in Uruguay Referendums in Uruguay Constitutional referendums in Uruguay December 1951 events in South America