Local Votes on Mines and Dams

Communities are increasingly taking advantage of pro-democracy laws that allow them to hold local votes on proposed natural resource development projects that may harm their environment and violate their human rights. EDLC is providing information on this issue to help communities and others considering whether to hold such a vote as a means of encouraging citizen participation and peacefully resolving critical development issues.

EDLC takes no position on whether a proposed project is appropriate for a particular community. Such a decision- like the decision as to whether to hold a vote- is best left to the affected citizens and their local and national governments.

The Constitutional Court of Guatemala found that the local vote was legal and that it ‘constituted an important mechanism of expression for the populace.’

- Article in the Indigenous Law Journal by Prof. Shin Imai, Ladan Mehranvar, and Jennifer Sander