1939 Peruvian constitutional referendum
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| Outcome | Amendments declared unconstitutional by Congress | |||||||||
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 Peru portal |
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A constitutional referendum was held in Peru on 18 June 1939.[1] The proposed changes were approved by 88% of voters.[1] Following the referendum, Manuel Prado Ugarteche was elected President on 4 December.
On 6 August 1945 the Congress passed a Law 10334, which declared the amendments unconstitutional, as they were not passed in line with Article 236 of the 1933 constitution.
Background
[edit]In 1933 Congress elected Óscar R. Benavides to serve the remainder of President Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro's five-year term in office.[1] In the 1936 presidential elections no candidate received a majority of the vote. Due to this, and one candidate being supported by the banned American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, the Electoral Tribunal later declared the election invalid.[1] Congress subsequently extended Benavides' term until 1939 and allowed him to rule by decree.[1]
On 19 April 1939 he issued Law 8875 calling for a referendum on constitutional reform. The changes included setting six-year terms for both the Congress (although one third of members would be elected every two years) and the President.[1]
Results
[edit]| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| For | 368,813 | 87.83 |
| Against | 51,132 | 12.17 |
| Invalid/blank votes | – | |
| Total | 419,945 | 100 |
| Registered voters/turnout | ||
| Source: Direct Democracy | ||