A referendum was held in Venezuela on 16 July 2017. The referendum was called by the National Assembly in response to the constitutional crisis and President Nicolás Maduro's plans for a Constituent Assembly. The referendum was an act of civil disobedience in the context of the application of Articles 333 and 350 of the Venezuelan constitution, with the articles calling for Venezuelans to "disown any regime ... that violates democratic values", especially since the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice were not recognized in the referendum. The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) announced that there would be 2,030 areas for the popular consultation nationwide to serve more than 19 million voters.
Background
Constitutional crisis
On 29 March 2017, the government-filled Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) attempted to assume the powers of the opposition-led National Assembly, though the TSJ later reversed their decision. Despite this, protests in the country strengthened to an intensity not seen since the 2014 Venezuelan protests.
As protests intensified with nearly 30 killed in clashes in one month, President Maduro called for a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new constitution on 1 May 2017, sparking more outrage among Venezuelans. Protesting occurred for nearly 100 days before the opposition announced the unofficial referendum.
Planning
The National Assembly unanimously approved the plebiscite on 5 July 2017 based on Articles 5, 70 and 71 of the constitution. The National Commission of Telecommunications banned the media from calling the referendum a "popular consultation"; a move that was described as "arbitrary and illegal" by the National College of Journalists.
Questions
On 6 July the Unity Roundtable announced the 3 questions that will be asked in the National Consultation, according to what is established by the opposition alliance, Venezuelans should answer three questions with "Yes" or "No", with The intention that the results are the first step for a change of political system in Venezuela. The questions would be: Do you reject and ignore the realization of a Constituent Assembly proposed by Nicolás Maduro without the prior approval of the Venezuelan people? Do you demand the National Armed Forces and all public officials to obey and defend the Constitution of 1999 and support the decisions of the National Assembly? Do you approve the renewal of public powers in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, and the holding of free and transparent elections, as well as the formation of a Government of National Unity to restore constitutional order? In the electoral process, all Venezuelans over the age of 18 enrolled or not enrolled in the CNE, inside and outside Venezuela, may participate. The committee formed for the development of the event, called "Rescue for Democracy", would work on the logistics and security of this activity.
Opinion polls
Referendum
Constituent Assembly
Graphical summary
An 8 May poll found that 73% of Venezuelans disagreed with Maduro's Constitutional Assembly, with 79% believing that they live in some form of dictatorship (49% believe absolute dictatorship, 30% believe it is a mix of a dictatorship and democracy). According to a May 2017 poll by More Consulting, 68.8% of the Venezuelans reject the proposal, and 72.9% (with more than 20% who consider themselves chavistas) consider the government a dictatorship. A poll taken by Hercon between 10–25 May 2017 found that 78.1% wanted Maduro out of office in 2017, 79.9% did not agree with the Constitutional Assembly, 73.3% believed the CNE favored the ruling party (PSUV) and 75.5% thought that President Maduro started the Constitutional Assembly proposal to establish a government similar to Cuba's.
Conduct
President of the National Assembly, Julio Borges, invited several former presidents as observers for the popular consultation. The Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA) reported that it will send a commission consisting of five former presidents: Laura Chinchilla from Costa Rica, Vicente Fox from Mexico, Andrés Pastrana from Colombia, Jorge Quiroga from Bolivia and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of Costa Rica, in response to the invitation. The Assembly also invited "more than 12 personalities and parliamentarians from other countries".
The process was assisted by organizations such as Súmate, EsData, Voto Joven and Foro Penal Venezolano. Invitations have been made to international organizations to attend as witnesses, but it is unknown whether they were able to attend.