Bulgarian MPs Move to Amend Referendum Rules

All referendums held on the same day as elections will be valid if 50% of the participants in the vote also answer to the referendum question(s), according to a decision of Bulgaria’s parliamentary legal committee.

The amendments to the Direct Citizen Participation in State and Local Government Act are to be put to the vote at an extraordinary sitting of Parliament on July 21, according to reports of 24 Hours daily.

To illustrate the application of the new rules, Danail Kirilov, head of the parliamentary legal committee, made clear the referendum on election legislation expected to take place alongside the local elections on October 25 would be considered valid if 2 million voted “yes” out of a total turnout of 4 million voters for the local elections.

At present referendums are considered valid if the number of participants is as many as the number of voters who took part in the last parliamentary elections.

Referendums held separately of elections will have to achieve a target of 40% of all eligible voters.

Under the changes, the number of signatures required in order to oblige Parliament to review a referendum request changes from 500 000 to 400 000.

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