Weekly Report - 13 October 2011 (WR-11-41)

Paraguayans went to the polls on 9 October to approve a referendum that will have serious repercussions for future elections. They might not have turned out in droves - indeed only 12.5% of the 3m Paraguayans eligible to vote cast their ballots - but voters created the second largest electoral constituency after Asunción: it will lie on foreign soil. Paraguayans living abroad will now be eligible to vote – and they will be courted assiduously by future presidential candidates – assuming congress raises no objections to the referendum. At a stroke the size of the electorate will increase by very nearly 25% to 3.76m.