What is a referendum?

A referendum is a nationwide vote of citizens on the most important issues of public and state life to adopt laws and other decisions.

Who participates in the referendum?

Citizens who have reached the age of eighteen by or on the day of the referendum shall be entitled to participate in the referendum. A citizen of Uzbekistan residing or staying outside the territory of Uzbekistan shall have the full right to participate in a referendum.

Who shall vote in the referendum?

The list shall include the name, surname, patronymic, date of birth, and residence address of each voting citizen. Lists of voting citizens shall be compiled using the Single Electronic List of Voters.

The list of voting citizens shall specify the citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the right to participate in the referendum, permanently or temporarily residing on the territory of the given referendum precinct by the time the list is compiled.

What does the referendum ballot look like?

The referendum ballot shall accurately reproduce the text of the referendum question and indicate the options for the expression of the voter's will. The ballot shall include an explanation of how to fill it in.

The ballots shall be printed in the national language or, as decided by the District Referendum Commission, in the languages used by the majority of the population in the respective referendum district. Braille stencils may also be prepared for filling in the ballots.

The organization and holding of the referendum:

The referendum shall be administered by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan and District Referendum Commissions, and Precinct referendum commissions.

How do the commissions compile a list of voting citizens?

The list of voting citizens shall include citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan entitled to participate in the referendum, permanently or temporarily residing on the territory of the given referendum precinct by the time the list is compiled.

The list shall include the name, surname, patronymic, date of birth, and address of residence of each voting citizen.

Each citizen can be included only in one list of voting citizens.

Lists of voting citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall be compiled on the basis of the Single Electronic List of Voters.

Voting lists of military personnel stationed in military units, as well as family members of military personnel and other citizens, should they reside in the areas where military units are located, shall be compiled based on the data provided by the commanders of the military units.

Servicemen residing outside military units are included in the lists of voting citizens at their place of residence under the same terms as any other eligible.

The surnames of voting citizens shall be given in the list in the order that is convenient for the organization of voting.

What is the procedure for establishing referendum precincts?

Referendum precincts shall be established with due regard to the boundaries of districts, cities, and districts within cities to provide maximum convenience to citizens entitled to vote in the referendum.

In military units, sanatoriums and recreation centers, hospitals and other inpatient medical facilities, places of residence of citizens in remote and inaccessible areas, and places of detention and imprisonment, these precincts shall be part of the referendum district in the place of their location.

Referendum precincts shall be established not later than the fifteenth day following the publication of the decision to call the referendum.

As a rule, referendum districts shall be established with a number of not less than twenty and not more than three thousand citizens entitled to participate in the referendum.

 How are the results of the referendum determined? 

The Central Election Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on the basis of the protocols of the District Referendum Commissions, shall determine the following

Total number of voters

Number of ballot papers

Number of citizens who received ballot papers

Number of citizens who participated in early voting

Number of citizens who participated in voting; (based on the number of ballots in the ballot boxes)

Total number of unused and spoiled, canceled ballot papers

Number of votes cast in favor of the referendum question

Number of votes cast against the referendum question

The number of ballots declared invalid.

What is the procedure for early voting in a referendum?

A voter who is unable to stay at his/her place of residence on referendum day shall have the right to early voting.

Early voting shall begin ten days before the referendum and end three days before the referendum.

The time of early voting shall be determined by the Central Election Commission, and communicated to the voters and observers through the media.

For early voting, the voter on the basis of an application indicating the reason for absence on the referendum day (vacation, business trip, travel abroad, etc.) shall receive a ballot paper from the relevant referendum commission.

In the presence of at least two members of the relevant Precinct Commission, the voter shall sign for the ballot paper on the list of voting citizens.

The ballot shall be filled in by the voter in a specially equipped booth or room for a secret ballot.

The voter shall make a decision and leave the completed referendum ballot in a closed envelope, which shall be stored in the safe of the relevant Precinct Election Commission. At the place of gluing the envelope the signatures of two members of the Precinct Commission shall be put, which shall be confirmed by the seal of the Commission.

What are the voting procedures for the referendum?

Voting shall be held on referendum day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Precinct Commission shall notify citizens of the time and place of voting at least 10 days before the referendum day.

The voter shall fill in the ballot in the booth or room for a secret ballot.

Upon arrival at the precinct, a voter shall show a member of the Precinct Commission an identification document and shall sign on the list of voting citizens. After that, s/he shall be given a ballot paper.

A voter shall put a «➕» or «✔️» or «❌» mark on the ballot paper in the empty box to the right of the option for which he or she is voting.

When filling out the ballot, no persons other than the voter shall be present there.

A voting citizen who is not able to fill in the ballot by him/herself shall have the right to invite another person at his/her discretion to the booth or the room for a secret ballot, except for the persons who are members of the Precinct Commission, observers and representatives of the mass media.

A citizen shall put the completed ballot paper into the ballot box. The ballot boxes shall be visible to the members of the Precinct Commission and observers.

In cases when individual citizens who vote are unable to come to the polling station for health or other reasons, the relevant Precinct Commission, at their written or verbal request, shall organize voting on referendum day or before referendum day at the place of stay of these voting citizens using mobile ballot boxes.

At the request of a voter, a spoiled ballot paper can be replaced with a new one. Spoiled ballot papers shall be subject to registration, cancellation, and separate safekeeping.