A referendum is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a new policy or specific law, or the referendum may be only advisory. In some countries, it is synonymous with and also known as plebiscite, votation,popular consultation, ballot question, ballot measure, or proposition.
Elections in Hungary are held at two levels: general elections to elect the members of the National Assembly and local elections to elect local authorities. European Parliament elections are also held every 5 years.
Referendums are held only occasionally by the Government of New Zealand. Referendums may be government-initiated or held in accordance with the Electoral Act 1993 or the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993. Nineteen referendums have been held so far. Fourteen were government-led, and five were indicative citizen initiatives.
A referendum on revoking some medical and tuition fees was held in Hungary on 9 March 2008. The proposals would cancel government reforms which introduced doctor visit fees paid per visitation and medical fees paid per number of days spent in hospital as well as tuition fees in higher education. All three were supported by a majority of voters. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány stated that the fees would be abolished on 1 April 2008 following the referendum, but that the government had no funds available to replace the income lost for the higher educations institutions and health institutions due to the abolishment of the fees.
Referendums in Taiwan at both the national and local level are governed by the Referendum Act of Taiwan, which was enacted by the Legislative Yuan in December 2003. Citizens can propose laws via referendums at the national and local levels. The Referendum Act also allowed people to make changes or abolish laws by referendums.
Slovakia does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions. In addition, the Constitution limits marriage to opposite-sex couples. Bills to recognise same-sex partnerships were introduced several times, in 1997, in 2000, in 2012, in 2018, in 2021 and in 2022 but were all rejected.
Freedom and Solidarity is a liberal political party in Slovakia. Established in 2009, SaS is led by its founder and economist Richard Sulík, who designed Slovakia's flat tax system. It generally holds libertarian or anti-statist positions. After the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, the party lost several seats in the National Council but was part of the coalition government with For the People and We Are Family.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 12 June 2010. The elections were contested by eighteen parties, six of which passed the 5% threshold for sitting in parliament. Despite the incumbent Smer of Prime Minister Robert Fico winning a plurality, the new government consisted of a coalition led by the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party's Iveta Radičová and included KDH, SaS and Most-Hid. However, her government fell on 11 October 2011 following a vote of no confidence with a new election called for 10 March 2012.
A nationwide referendum was held in Moldova on 5 September 2010 on whether or not the country should amend the Constitution of Moldova to return to direct popular election of the president. Since 2001, the president had been indirectly elected by Parliament, with a supermajority of 61 seats required for election. The voters are asked to answer the following question: "Would you agree with the Constitutional amendment, which would allow the election of the President of the Republic of Moldova by the entire population?" Voters chose one of the proposed options: "Yes (for)" or "No (against)". Of those who had cast their vote, 87.83% chose "Yes". However, the referendum did not pass because only 30.29% of voters turned out, short of the necessary 33% for the referendum to be considered valid.
A referendum was held in Slovakia on 23 May and 24 May 1997. Voters in Slovakia were asked four separate questions: on whether the country should join NATO, whether nuclear weapons should be allowed in Slovakia, whether foreign military bases should be allowed in Slovakia, and whether the President should be elected directly. The government left the last question off the ballot paper, leading to both referendums failing to meet the legally required turnout threshold.
Ordinary People and Independent Personalities is a conservative political party in Slovakia. The anti-establishment party founded in 2011 won the 2020 parliamentary election on an anti-corruption platform. After getting in charge, OĽaNO adopted a generally conservative outlook. The party is led by former prime minister of Slovakia Igor Matovič. The incumbent prime minister was a member of the party presidium, Eduard Heger, succeeding Matovič in 2021.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 10 March 2012 to elect the 150 members of the National Council. The elections followed the fall of Prime Minister Iveta Radičová's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party-led coalition in October 2011 over a no confidence vote her government had lost because of its support for the European Financial Stability Fund. Amidst a major corruption scandal involving local center-right politicians, former Prime Minister Robert Fico's Direction – Social Democracy won an absolute majority of seats.
A referendum on banning same-sex marriage was held in Slovakia on 7 February 2015. Critics claimed the referendum was pushed by religious and conservative organisations, aiming to block gay couples from gaining more rights.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 5 March 2016 to elect the 150 members of the National Council. The ruling left-wing populist Direction – Social Democracy (SMER–SD) party remained the strongest party, but lost its majority. The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS), which led the government between 2000–06 and 2010–12, was defeated heavily, failing to cross the electoral threshold and losing its representation in the National Council. The centre-right Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) also failed to cross the threshold for the first time since 1990, whilst the far-right nationalist Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS) entered parliament for the first time.
In the Netherlands, from the entry into force of the Advisory Referendum Act on 1 July 2015, until its repeal on 18 February 2018, most types of primary laws could be subjected to a suspensory, non-binding referendum if requested shortly after royal assent and subsequent proclamation. If a law was rejected by more than half of the votes cast, with a mandatory turnout of at least 30%, its entry into force was to be suspended indefinitely and a follow-up law had to be enacted that either repealed the law or provided for its entry into force.
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council.
A referendum took place in Romania on 6 and 7 October 2018 regarding the definition of the family in the Romanian Constitution. The referendum asked voters whether or not they approve a change to the family's definition as provided by Article 48 of the Constitution, to prohibit same-sex marriage. At the same time, a name referendum was held in the Olt County for renaming it to "Olt-Romanați County".
A four-question referendum was held in Taiwan on 18 December 2021. The vote was originally scheduled to take place on 28 August 2021, but was postponed to December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All four questions were popular initiatives. According to the Referendum Act, referendums can be held once every two years on the fourth Saturday of August and questions must gather a number of signatures equivalent to 1.5% of eligible voters (280,000) in order to qualify.
A referendum was held in Hungary on 3 April 2022, coinciding with the parliamentary elections. While the overwhelming majority of valid votes were cast as "no" to the four referendum questions, the share of valid votes was below the 50% required for the result to be considered valid.
A constitutional referendum was held in Slovakia on 21 January 2023.
