site.btaReferendum Proclaimed as Not Binding

Referendum
Proclaimed
as Not Binding


Sofia, November 11 (BTA) - The national referendum held on November 6 simultaneously with the Bulgarian presidential elections is not legally binding, because the number of voters who took part in it was below the threshold of 3 500 585 people, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on Friday. The threshold represents the number of voters who went to the polls in the latest parliamentary elections in 2014.

The referendum was initiated by popular entertainer Slavi Trifonov and the team of his TV show. The three questions in it were: (1) Do you favour electing National Representatives by an absolute majority in a two-round majoritarian system?; (2) Do you favour introducing compulsory voting in elections and referendums?; and (3) Do you favour setting the annual state subsidy granted for financing political parties and coalitions at 1 lev per valid vote received at the last parliamentary elections?

The rule is that if voter participation is below the threshold for a binding referendum but exceeds 20 per cent of eligible voters (i.e. 1,366,458-plus) and more than half of the valid votes are "yes" votes, the CEC must refer the referendum proposals to the National Assembly, which has to address the matter and make public its resolution within three months. /PK/VE//