![Spanish voters approve EU constitution, exit polls show](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] Spanish television is reporting that a clear majority of Spanish voters who turned out in Sunday's referendum on the European Union constitution [official website; treaty text] voted in favor of ratification. Exit polls are showing that over 78% voted in favor of the EU constitution, though only about 41% of the population turned out for the non-binding referendum. Sunday's vote was the first popular vote on the constitution in Europe. The constitution must be ratified by all 25 EU member states by November 2006 before it can take effect. Each member state can determine its own ratification process [EU backgrounder]; nine more member states will hold popular referendums, two others are undecided, and the remainder will ratify the document by parliamentary vote. The Spanish government has set up an official website for the referendum campaign [in Spanish]. BBC News has more. El Mundo has local coverage (in Spanish).