At eight o’clock on Sunday morning, the voting circuits were opened so that 2,684,131 people might decide in Uruguay regarding the proposal from repeal or maintain 135 articles of Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) approved in July 2020. Almost twelve hours later, the Electoral Court confirmed they closed the electoral circuits of the vote: once the count began, the authorities confirmed that the participation exceeded 85 percent throughout the country.
I knowAccording to a pollster Usina de Percepción Ciudadana, with less than 10 percent of the tables counted, there are technical tie in the vote to define whether to maintain or repeal 135 articles of a key law for the Executive.
The law contains 476 articles and is the summary of the main measures of the government coalition that led to Luis Lacalle Pou to preside over the country. That rule reflects the “Commitment to the country” signed by the National Party, the Colorado Party, the Open Council, the Independent Party and the People’s Party, prior to the second round of November 2019, in which Lacalle defeated the leftist Daniel Martínez.
The initiative was questioned by the opposition party wide front and social organizations, including the Pit-Cnt workers’ union, which filed a referendum (provided for in the Constitution) to repeal it.
The management of fuel prices, the limitation of the participation of teachers in educational decisions, the regulation of the right to strike, the eviction of people who rent without guarantee, the relaxation of money laundering controls, changes in the adoption process and several norms referring to security, are some of the points most questioned by the Broad Front and social organizations.
Yes or no
Uruguayans will have to decide between two ballots: a pink one, for the Yes to the repeal of the articles, and another light blue, for the No to the repeal. As the law requires that in order to totally or partially repeal a law must obtain at least half plus one of the valid votes, the blank vote (empty envelopes) counts in favor of the No option.
The polling companies in Uruguay point to a “competitive” scenario for this Sunday’s vote, although some are inclined to point out that there will not be the necessary votes to repeal the 135 articles.