Local Votes in Other Countries
Local votes on proposed resource development projects have taken place in a number of other countries. Because EDLC's focus is on developing countries, the brief survey that follows will only consider votes held in such countries. Also beyond the scope of this survey are efforts to hold local votes that have been blocked by the authorities, including proposed votes in New Caledonia and the Philippines.
Chile
In March, 2008 residents in the tiny town of Tortel, Chile held a vote on the proposed HidroAysén hydroelectric dam project, slated for the nearby Baker and the Pascua Rivers. Some 60 percent of the town's voters participated. Nearly 77 percent of voters said "no" to the proposed dam. Such votes are not authorized by Chilean law.
Mexico
In Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico, a local vote on the San Xavier mining project was held on October 22, 2006. Over 97% of the roughly 20,000 voters rejected the mine.
Six months before the vote, a group opposing the mine had initiated civil resistance as part of an effort to eject the company from Cerro de San Pedro. The group claimed that in response, the company had detonated explosives near demonstrators and photographed and videotaped protest marchers.
The Philippines
Bakun mining vote
When Royalco Philippines sought to conduct mining exploration near the village of Bakun in Benguet province, the Gambang Indigenous Peoples and Community Organization (GIPCO), a local indigenous peoples group, responded that the community's decision-making process required the company to conduct a vote and obtain approval of the project from a majority of the community's members.
A local vote was held in December 2007 , and reports differ as to whether 25% of those who voted approved the mine, or whether only 25% of community members participated in the vote. In either event, a memorandum of agreement was nonetheless signed between village elders and the company.
In March, 2008 residents in the tiny town of Tortel, Chile held a vote on the proposed HidroAysén hydroelectric dam project, slated for the nearby Baker and the Pascua Rivers.