2019 Sidama Region referendum

Referendum on the creation of a Sidama region, 2019

20 November 2019 (2019-11-20)

Results
Choice
Votes %
Yes 2,225,249 98.52%
No 33,463 1.48%
Valid votes 2,258,712 99.19%
Invalid or blank votes 18,351 0.81%
Total votes 2,277,063 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 2,280,147 99.86%

A referendum on the creation of a Sidama Region was held on regionalisation in the Sidama Zone of Ethiopia on 20 November 2019.[1][2] The creation of such a region is a long-standing claim of the Sidama people.

The management of the referendum and its likely centrifugal consequences on Ethiopia's system of ethnic federalism was seen as a crucial test for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's policy of democratic openness ahead of the 2020 general election.

  1. ^ Ethiopia: Sidama's self-determination referendum set for Nov. 20
  2. ^ "Hope, uncertainty as Ethiopia's Sidama gear up for statehood vote". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved Nov 20, 2019.