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
High Commissioner Patrice Faure President of the Government Louis Mapou Vice President of the Government Isabelle Champmoreau Congress President Veylma Falaeo Political parties Recent elections Legislative: 2004 2009 2014 2019 Referendums: 1987 2018 2020 2021 Matignon Agreements Nouméa Accord
Other countries
v t e

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]