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                        QUEBEC REFERENDUM RESULTS
 
(Excuse any cross-postings.)
 
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The Referendum result was as close as the polls predicted.
 
The Non gained 50.6% and the Oui 49.4% of the vote.
 
Its impact and the continuing political fall out continue to be the number one
news.
 
It proved impossible to declare the winning "non" result (to the 'sovereignty
for Quebec' option) on the night until 97% of the polls had been counted.
 
Overall there was a 93% turnout (98% in the highest riding) and the no. of
spoiled ballots was larger than the winning plurality.
 
To make it even more of a cliff-hanger, the "Oui" were winning for the first
hour and a half after closure of polls and only after the count for the large
constituencies for the Island of Montreal started coming in, did the balance
tip in favour of 'Non'.
 
The result now sets in a period of intense constitutional debate that has been
heightened by the unexpected resignation the day after the Referendum of the
Quebec premier, M.Jacques Parizeau. The Leader of the Opposition and Head of
the Bloc Quebecois in the House of Commons, M. Bouchard, has not yet announced
whether he will run for the provincial leadership.
 
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