A constitutional referendum was held in Chile on 4 September 2022 to decide whether to approve a new Political Constitution of the Republic, drafted by the Constitutional Convention. It was commonly known as the "exit plebiscite" (plebiscito de salida). The convention had been created after voters approved drafting a new constitution in a 2020 plebiscite, with the aim of replacing the constitution inherited from the military dictatorship.

The proposal, which had faced "intense criticism that it was too long, too left-wing and too radical", was rejected by 61.89% of valid votes to 38.11%. Voting was compulsory for the first time since 2012, and more than 13 million people voted (85.86% of the electoral roll), the largest number of voters in any election in Chilean history. "Reject" won in all 16 regions and in 338 of the country's 346 communes.

Because of the result, the 1980 Constitution remained in force. President Gabriel Boric nevertheless said that the vote did not end the constitutional process, and political parties began negotiating a new path. A Constitutional Council election was held on 7 May 2023, and the text that body drafted was also rejected in a second referendum on 17 December 2023.

Background The constitutional process followed the plebiscite of 25 October 2020, in which voters approved drafting a new constitution through an elected convention. The rules provided for a second, "exit" plebiscite to ratify the convention's draft. Turnout in the 2020 vote, held under voluntary voting, was 7,569,082.

Scheduling Under the itinerary originally proposed for the process, the exit plebiscite was expected in September 2021 if the Constitutional Convention used its initial nine-month term, or in March 2022 if it requested the three-month extension. The plebiscite could not be held within 60 days before or after another election, nor in January or February; if an extension were requested, it would fall on the first Sunday in March.

The postponement of the first plebiscite to 25 October 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic also shifted the exit plebiscite, which was projected for the third quarter of 2022, in September at the latest. On 5 April 2022, the Convention's executive board and the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency set the date as Sunday, 4 September 2022. On 4 July, Boric received the proposed constitution, and the decree calling the plebiscite was signed and published in the Diario Oficial de la República de Chile.

Ballot and rules

Article 142 of the 1980 Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile set out the text of the ballot:

The vote used a single ballot, and the proposal needed a simple majority to pass. Unlike the election of convention members in May 2021, held under voluntary voting, the plebiscite was held under compulsory voting. The aim was to give the result greater legitimacy and avoid the abstention seen in 2021, when 58.49% of the electorate did not vote and a further 2.93% cast null or blank ballots.

Article 142 provided that if voters rejected the proposal, the existing constitution would remain in force. No contingency plan existed for what would follow a rejection. Chilean human rights lawyer Dinka Benítez stated that "given that 80 percent of those who voted in the plebiscite want a new constitution, it seems that Chile ... will necessarily have to find a way to have a new constitution" in some form, and that a "reject" vote would not necessarily be a death knell for constitutional reform.

Proposed constitution

Campaign The official campaign period ran from 6 July to 1 September 2022. On 22 June, the Electoral Service (Servel) set a three-day window, counted from publication of the convening decree, for civil society organizations, political parties and independent legislators to register if they wished to receive public funding, advertise, and take part in the televised campaign segment.

Servel reported on 8 July that it had received 708 registration requests: 299 for "Approve" and 409 for "Reject". Most were from civil society organizations, and most "Reject" registrants were not part of a formal campaign command.

+ Registrations to campaign, by option Option Part of a campaign command Not part of a command Total Parties Independent legislators Civil society Parties Independent legislators Civil society Approve 9 6 169 1 6 108 299 Reject 4 0 44 1 5 355 409 Total 13 6 213 2 11 463 708

The pro-government "Casa del Apruebo", housing the Apruebo Dignidad and Democratic Socialism campaign commands, opened on 11 July at Londres 43 in Santiago. On 26 July, the "Casa Ciudadana por el Rechazo", which brought together civil organizations backing "Reject", opened near La Moneda Palace.

Television airtime

The televised campaign segment (franja electoral) aired daily from 5 August to 1 September, with a 15-minute block for each option. The National Television Council allotted 60% of the time to political parties, 27% to civil society organizations and 13% to indigenous peoples. The council published the list of participating groups and their time allocations on 27 July, and drew lots for the order of appearance two days later. The two daily blocks aired at 12:45 and 20:45, with the group that closed one day's segment opening the next. The "Reject" segment was run by an executive committee that included Bernardo Fontaine, Gonzalo Müller, Jorge Selume Aguirre and Marco Antonio González, together with representatives of allied civil society groups.

Media coverage Beyond the formal mechanisms meant to guarantee both options equal space in the media, academic studies have argued that Chile's leading newspapers, El Mercurio and La Tercera (Copesa group), gave extensive coverage to the "Reject" option, in line with their historical ideological orientation and the interests of their main advertisers.

Party positions ChoicePartiesPolitical orientationLeaderRef Approve Apruebo Dignidad (AD)ProgressivismGabriel Boric Democratic Revolution (RD)Democratic socialismJuan Ignacio Latorre Social Convergence (CS)Libertarian socialismAlondra Arellano CommonsSocialism of the 21st centuryMarco Velarde Communist Party of Chile (PCCh)CommunismGuillermo Teillier Social Green Regionalist Federation (FREVS)RegionalismFlavia Torrealba Diaz Humanist Action (AH)HumanismTomás Hirsch Unir Movement (UNIR)ProgressivismMarcelo Díaz Democratic Socialism (SD)Social democracy Socialist Party of Chile (PS)Social democracyPaulina Vodanovic Party for Democracy (PPD)ProgressivismNatalia Piergentili Radical Party of Chile (PR)Social liberalismLeonardo Cubillos Liberal Party of Chile (PL)Social liberalismVlado Mirosevic Christian Democratic Party (PDC)Christian democracyFelipe Delpín Humanist Party (PH)Universal humanismNatalia Ibáñez Green Ecologist Party (PEV)Green politicsFélix González Gatica Reject Chile Vamos (ChV)Liberal conservatism Independent Democratic Union (UDI)ConservatismJavier Macaya National Renewal (RN)ConservatismFrancisco Chahuán Political Evolution (Evópoli)Classical liberalismLuz Poblete Coddou Republican Party (PLR)National conservatismRojo Edwards Party of the People (PDG)PopulismFranco Parisi

Opinion polls Polling firms measured public opinion throughout the process. Early polling showed "Approve" ahead: a Cadem poll fielded on 26–28 January 2022 gave it 62.9% of weighted voting intention, and a MORI/FIEL poll in February gave it 67.9%. Support fell over the following weeks. A Data Influye poll on 1–3 April was the last in the weighted series to show "Approve" ahead (50.6%), and "Reject" led in nearly every poll thereafter. Its largest leads came in a Studio Publico poll in April (66.3%) and an Activa poll in June (64.0%). In the final weeks the gap narrowed in several polls, but "Reject" led in all of them.

The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading option's color. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the options in a poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organizations.