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In this article, Maria Sofia Corciulo examines the results of the two popular votes during Napoleon's Hundred Days, the election for the Chamber in May, and the vote on the Acte additionel, the revised Napoleonic constitution drafted by Benjamin Constant. The article notes the peculiarly French distinction in constitutional law between a plebiscite and a referendum, concluding that while the vote on the constitution was technically a referendum, on a specific legislative proposal, it was in effect a plebiscite on the Napoleonic regime. The most striking feature of the two votes was the high levels of abstention, the great majority of the 7.5 million registered voters abstained. The reasons for this electoral strategy are examined, suggesting a large fall in support for the regime, even among the minority who did vote, compared with the previous plebiscite approving the Empire in 1804.
