2018 New Caledonian independence referendum

2018 New Caledonian independence referendum
4 November 2018
Do you want New Caledonia to attain full sovereignty and become independent?
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 60,199 43.33%
No 78,734 56.67%
Valid votes 138,933 98.46%
Invalid or blank votes 2,166 1.54%
Total votes 141,099 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 174,165 81.01%
Results by commune
Politics of New Caledonia

An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 November 2018.[1][2] Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming an independent country.

Announced in the evening of polling day, the result was 56.4% for maintaining the status quo and 43.6% in favour of independence. The turnout was 81% of the 174,995 voters eligible to vote in this referendum.[3] Recent inhabitants who are registered to vote in general elections were ineligible to vote in the referendum, as agreed in the 1998 Nouméa Accord, representing 17% of the total of 210,105 registered voters of New Caledonia.

Prior to the vote, the government and authorities in Metropolitan France stated that they would recognise and abide by the results of the referendum. Despite the failure of the motion, New Caledonians, under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, had the opportunity to vote again in 2020. Since the 2020 referendum resulted in New Caledonia remaining French, a third, and final, referendum was sanctioned if one third of the Congress of New Caledonia, the local legislature, agreed to allow the vote to be held.[4] Following a request in April 2020 by pro-independence members of Congress, the third referendum was scheduled for 12 December 2021, despite ongoing calls to postpone the referendum citing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] The results were overwhelmingly against independence, the FLNKS having boycotted the vote.[6][7]

  1. ^ "New Caledonia, French Leaders Look To Finalize Plans For 2018 Referendum | Pacific Islands Report". www.pireport.org. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  2. ^ Willsher, Kim (19 March 2018). "New Caledonia sets date for independence referendum". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  3. ^ "French territory rejects independence". BBC News. 4 November 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference call was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "FLNKS pleads for delay in New Caledonia independence vote". Radio New Zealand. 22 October 2021. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  6. ^ "New Caledonia rejects independence in final vote amid boycott". Reuters. 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  7. ^ Covid-19 : aucun décès supplémentaire à déplorer au point sanitaire du 11 décembre 2021