Romanian voting system referendum, 2007

A referendum on changing the voting system to single-member voting was held in Romania on 25 November 2007, on the same date as the election to the European Parliament. The referendum was called by President Traian Băsescu on 23 October 2007 when the Parliament of Romania failed to meet a deadline set by him to pass these changes. [ [http://english.hotnews.ro/Romanian-President-Traian-Basescu-signs-referendum-decree-articol_46248.htm "Romanian President Traian Basescu signs referendum decree"] , at HotNews.ro]

The precise question was:

While the system proposed by the president would mirror the French two-round electoral system, Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu has proposed a mixed member proportional system based on the German electoral system. [ [http://europe.courrierinternational.com/eurotopics/article.asp?langue=uk&publication=26/10/2007&cat=POLITICS&pi=3#3 "The debate about Romania's future electoral system"] , at CourrierInternational.com] The proposed law would also reduce the number of MPs by about 20 per cent. [ [http://www.birn.eu.com/en/109/15/5382/ "Romania Leaders Push for Electoral Reform"] , at BIRN.eu.com]

While the Greater Romania Party challenged the legality of holding the referendum at the same time as the EP election, the Constitutional Court of Romania decided on 2007-11-07 that there was nothing wrong with this. [ [http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newssummary/#setimes/newsbriefs/2007/11/08/nb-04 News ] ]

Results

Although 81% of voters were in favour of the proposal, the turnout being just 26% the referendum is invalid. [ [http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/148247.html Governing party defeated in Romania's European Parliament election - correction : Europe World ] ] Thus, the MMP proposal of PM Tăriceanu is likely to be used in the next elections instead. [ [http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2007/11/26/feature-02 Romania holds first EP elections; low turnout invalidates election referendum (SETimes.com) ] ]

References