Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the ancient principle of parliamentary sovereignty: there is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue; but the UK Parliament is free to legislate though a Act of Parliament for a national plebiscite to be held on any question at any time but cannot be constitutionally binding on either the Government or Parliament, although they usually have a persuasive political effect.
In California, a ballot proposition is a referendum or an initiative measure that is submitted to the electorate for a direct decision or direct vote. If passed, it can alter one or more of the articles of the Constitution of California, one or more of the 29 California Codes, or another law in the California Statutes by clarifying current or adding statute(s) or removing current statute(s).
This is a list of referenda related to the European Union, or referendums related to the European Communities, which were predecessors of the European Union. Since 1972, a total of 48 referenda have been held by EU member states, candidate states, and their territories, with several additional referendums held in countries outside of the EU. The referendums have been held most commonly on the subject of whether to become a member of European Union as part of the accession process, although the EU does not require any candidate country to hold a referendum to approve membership or as part of treaty ratification. Other EU-related referendums have been held on the adoption of the euro and on participation in other EU-related policies.
A referendum, in the Italian legal system is a request directed to the whole electorate to express their view on a determined question. It is the main instrument of direct democracy in Italy.
Elections in Portugal are free, fair, and regularly held, in accordance with election law.
Elections in Lithuania are held to select members of the parliament, the president, members of the municipal councils and mayors, as well as delegates to the European Parliament. Lithuanian citizens can also vote in mandatory or consultative referendums.
Malta elects on a national level 6 MEPs representing Malta in the European Parliament, on a district level the legislature, On a local level the Local Councils and on a community level the Administrative Committees.
A referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held in Spain on Sunday, 20 February 2005. The question asked was "Do you approve of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe?". The consultative referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution for the European Union was approved by 81.8% of valid votes, although turnout was just 41.8%, the lowest since the end of the Franco era.
The electorate of Iraq went to the polls on 15 October 2005 to vote in a referendum on whether or not to ratify the proposed constitution of Iraq. After 10 days of counting votes, the country's electoral commission announced that the constitution had been approved by a wide margin nationwide. A number of mainly Sunni critics like future deputy prime minister Saleh al-Mutlaq alleged massive irregularities, saying that soldiers broke in to polling stations and changed votes to yes in the crucial province of Nineveh, which was expected by them to provide the third "no" vote.
An abrogative referendum on the divorce law was held in Italy on 12 May 1974. Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three years earlier allowing divorce for the first time in modern Italian history. Those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as had been the case before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce. The referendum was defeated by margin of 59.26% to 40.74% on a voter turnout of 87.72% out of 37 million eligible voters, thus allowing the divorce laws to remain in force.
A referendum on a proposed draft of the new Serbian constitution was held on October 28 and 29 October 2006 and resulted in the draft constitution being approved by the Serbian electorate. The constitution is Serbia's first as an independent state since the Kingdom of Serbia's 1903 constitution. Over 6.6 million people were entitled to vote in the national referendum.
Referendums in Transnistria, according to the Transnistrian Constitution, are one of the lawful forms of expression of people's will.
Five nationwide popular referendums were held in Italy on 8 November 1987, with three questions about nuclear energy after the Chernobyl disaster, and two questions about justice. Voting day had been postponed of six months, according to the Italian Constitution, because of the snap election of spring.
Three abrogative referendums on the electoral law were held in Italy on 21–22 June 2009. They were promoted by Mario Segni, Giovanni Guzzetta, Arturo Parisi, Antonio Martino and Daniele Capezzone. With a turnout of 23.31% / 23.84%, the referendums did not reach the necessary quorum of 50% voters, so were not valid.
The 2005 Egyptian constitutional referendum took place in Egypt on 25 May 2005. The referendum was on a proposed change to the constitution of Egypt which would establish direct elections for the presidency. The opposition parties called for a boycott of the vote, which was passed by a large majority.
A constitutional referendum was held in Egypt on 14 and 15 January 2014 and with Egyptians abroad voting between 8 and 12 January. The new constitution was approved by 98.1% of voters. Turnout was 38.6%.
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This article summarises referendum laws and practice in various countries.
A constitutional referendum was held in the Republic of the Congo on 25 October 2015 regarding a proposal to change the constitution, primarily to modify the rules regarding presidential terms.
An abrogative referendum on oil and natural gas drilling was held in Italy on 17 April 2016. The referendum was on the proposed repealing of a law that allows gas and oil drilling concessions extracting hydrocarbon within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast to be prolonged until the exhaustion of the useful life of the fields.
A referendum on a law governing the Divača-Koper rail upgrade was held in Slovenia on 24 September 2017. The referendum was marked by a low turnout; a majority of voters voted in favour of the proposed law. The results were annulled by the Supreme Court in March 2018, resulting in a new referendum being held in 13 May 2018.
