A referendum on the system of government was held in Nepal on 2 May 1980. Voters were offered the choice between a non-partisan panchayat system and a multi-party system. The panchayat system received a slim majority of 54.99%, whereas Multi-Party System only received 45.2% of the total votes. Voter turnout was 66.9%.^[1]

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1980 Nepalese governmental system referendum

2 May 1980
Results
Choice Votes  % Panchayat system 2,433,452 54.79% Multi-party system 2,007,965 45.21% Valid votes 4,441,417 92.27% Invalid or blank votes 372,069 7.73% Total votes 4,813,486 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 7,192,451 66.92%
Results by district Panchayat   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%   >90% Multi-party   50-60%   60-70%

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With the backdrop of mass student protests against his rule in the spring of 1979, King Birendra made a public declaration on May 23, 1979, that a referendum with universal adult suffrage with secret vote would be held in which the people of Nepal would be able to choose between introducing a multiparty system or retain the non-party panchayat regime.^[2]

On 21 January 1980, King Birendra published the Referendum Rules, stating that after the referendum 'His Majesty shall make such provisions in the Constitution of Nepal as may deem necessary'.^[3]

Nepalese citizens aged 21 and above were eligible to vote.^[4] The voters would mark their choice by stamping either of two colours on the ballot paper, blue for the multiparty system and yellow for the non-party panchayat system. It was speculated at the time that the choice of colours had not been coincidental, since the yellow colour was associated with saintly religious qualities. There is no empirical evidence though, that the choice of colours affected the outcome of the vote.^[5]