Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 3 April 1939, except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 19 April. They followed a dissolution of both chambers in order to call a referendum on changing the constitution. The referendum was held on 23 May but failed due to a low voter turnout. The result of the elections was a victory for the Social Democratic Party, which won 64 of the 149 seats. Voter turnout was 79.2% in Denmark proper and 47.8% in the Faroes.
A referendum on the enlargement of the European Communities (EC) was held in France on 23 April 1972. Voters were asked whether they approved of Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom joining the EC, although Norway later voted in its own referendum not to join. The proposals were approved by 68.3% of voters, with a turnout of 60.2%.
A constitutional referendum was held in France on 13 October 1946. Voters were asked whether they approved of a new constitution proposed by the Constituent Assembly elected in June. Unlike the May referendum, which saw a previous constitutional proposal rejected, the new Constitution of 27 October 1946 was accepted by 53.2% of voters, and brought the Fourth Republic into existence. Voter turnout was 67.6%.
A referendum to approve the Évian Accords ending the Algerian War and granting self-determination to Algeria was held in France on 8 April 1962. It was approved by 90.8% of voters with a 75.3% turnout.
A referendum on lowering the voting age from 20 to 18 was held in Denmark on 19 September 1978. It was held after the Danish government lowering the age of majority from 20 to 18 in 1976. The change was approved by 53.8% of voters with a turnout of 63.2%. The electoral age had previously been lowered from 21 to 20 in a 1971 referendum, after a 1969 referendum had rejected lowering the electoral age to 18.
A referendum on lowering the voting age from 21 to 20 was held in Denmark on 21 September 1971. The change was approved by 56.5% of voters, with a turnout of 86.2%. A previous referendum had been unsuccessful in lowering the electoral age to 18 years, which was introduced after a 1978 referendum and which still stands.
A referendum on lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 was held in Denmark on 24 June 1969. The proposed change was rejected by 78.6% of voters with a turnout of 63.6%. Two years later, the electoral age was instead lowered to 20 years, and finally, after a 1978 referendum, to 18 years.
A referendum on reducing the voting age from 23 to 21 was held in Denmark on 30 May 1961. It was approved by 55% of voters with a 37.3% turnout.
Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 14 May 1995 to elect the thirteenth Supreme Council. The elections took place alongside a multi-question referendum, although several further rounds of voting were required on 28 May, 29 November and 10 December. The majority of candidates elected were independents, although 62 seats remained unfilled due to insufficient voter turnout. A total of 2,348 candidates and 22 parties contested the election, around a thousand of which were independents. After the planned two rounds, only 119 of the 260 seats had been filled due to turnouts being too low in some areas. As this was well short of the 174 needed for a quorum, an additional two rounds were necessary. By the fourth round a quorum was reached, and although further rounds of voting were planned for 1996 to fill the remaining seats, following the constitutional amendments made following the referendum and the subsequent formation of a new National Assembly, they were not held.
A constitutional referendum was held in Poland on 25 May 1997. Voters were asked whether they approved of a new constitution. It was narrowly approved, with 53.5% voting in favour. Voter turnout was just 42.9%. Although the 1995 Referendum Act stated that a 50% turnout was required to validate the referendum, the Supreme Court ruled on 15 July that the constitution could be introduced.
A constitutional referendum was held in Estonia between 14 and 16 October 1933. After two new constitutional drafts proposed by Parliament had been rejected by referendums in 1932 and June 1933, a third draft proposed by the radical right-wing Movement of Veterans of the War of Independence was approved by 72.7% of voters, with a turnout of 77.9%.
A referendum on introducing direct elections for the Presidency was held in Hungary on 29 July 1990. Although the proposal was supported by 85.9% of voters, turnout was just 14%, resulting in the referendum being declared invalid. As a result, the President continued to be elected by the National Assembly.
A two-part referendum was held in Hungary on 5 December 2004.
A four-part abrogative referendum on fertility laws was held in Italy on 12 June 2005. Voters were asked whether research and access to the research on embryos should be limited, whether embryos should be legally recognised as people and whether IVF treatment should be limited to three embryos. The referendum was called after the Italian Radicals collected the 500,000 signatures required. Although all four proposals were approved by wide margins, the voter turnout of 26% was well below the 50% threshold and the results were invalidated. Pope Benedict XVI had called for a boycott.
A referendum on the electoral law was held in San Marino on 3 July 2005. Voters were asked four questions on changes to the electoral law and electoral system. Although all four were approved by a majority of those voting, voter turnout was just 21.7%, meaning that the quorum of 32% of registered voters (10,143) was not achieved for any question. This resulted in all four questions failing, including two that proposed raising the quorum to 40%.
A referendum on the retrospective disclosure of the financial details of large-scale privatisation was held in Slovakia on 22 October 1994. Although approved by 95.9% of those voting, voter turnout was just 20% and the referendum was declared invalid due to insufficient turnout.
A referendum on banning the privatisation of strategically important state-owned companies was held in Slovakia on 25 and 26 September 1998. Although approved by 84.3% of those voting, voter turnout was just 44.1% and the referendum was declared invalid due to insufficient turnout.
A referendum on holding early parliamentary elections was held in Slovakia on 3 April 2004. Although approved by 87.9% of those voting, voter turnout was just 35.9% and the referendum was declared invalid due to insufficient turnout.
Three referendums were held in Switzerland during 1919. The first two were held on 4 May on amending the constitution to add article 24ter on shipping, and on a constitutional amendment to impose a war tax. Both proposals were approved by a majority of voters and cantons. The third was held on 10 August on temporary amendments to article 73 of the constitution, and was also approved in spite of low turnout.
Events in the year 1946 in Bulgaria.
