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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Bulgaria |
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A three-question referendum was held in Bulgaria on 6 November 2016 alongside presidential elections. [1] Voters were asked whether they supported limiting public funding of political parties to one lev per year per valid vote received at the previous elections, the introduction of compulsory voting in elections and referendums, and changing the electoral system for the National Assembly to the two-round system. [2] In order to be binding, the number of voters participating in the referendum must be equal to or higher than the number who voted in the 2014 parliamentary elections. [3]
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The capital and largest city is Sofia; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europe's 16th-largest country.
Party subsidies or public funding of political parties are subsidies paid by the government directly to a political party to fund some or all of its political activities. Most democracies provide cash grants from taxpayers' money, the general revenue fund, for party activity. Such funds may cover routine or campaign costs incurred by the party. Among the established democracies the United States, Switzerland and India are the most notable exceptions. Party subsidies can be relatively small or quite generous.
All three proposals were supported by a majority of those voting, but turnout was slightly lower than the 2014 parliamentary elections, meaning the quorum was not met. However, as over 20% of registered voters voted in favour, the proposals will still have to be debated in the National Assembly. [4] The National Assembly rejected to legalize anything of the three questions. A legal case has been started for manipulation of the vote by the initiators, but the Supreme Court ruled out the referendum invalid. [5]
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, the "requirement for a quorum is protection against totally unrepresentative action in the name of the body by an unduly small number of persons."
The National Assembly is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Despite the insufficiency of 0.2% (12,000 people) of the turnout for the referendum to be 51% and to have mandatory effect, the turnout was based only on number of valid votes, not on number of voters. [6] Some sections could not serve all the voters in reasonable time and a number waited on the line and could not vote, [7] [8] [9] other sections closed earlier than the appointed time(8 PM) and in some sections entire boxes with ballots were locked in the sections themselves to avoid their enumeration. [10] [11] [12] [13] According to the Electoral Commission more than 12,000 ballots for not having envelope were excluded from the turnout alone. [14]
