Moldovan constitutional referendum, 2010

The referendum in Moldova in 2010 was held on September 5, 2010. The citizens were called upon to vote on a constitutional amendment that would have meant the re- introduction of the direct election of the president. A large majority of voters voted for the constitutional amendment. However, the referendum failed due to a too low voter turnout.

Prehistory

In Moldova was held in 1991 and 1996, direct elections of the president after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent independence of the country. Since the head of state was elected by a three -fifths majority of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. The closeness of the result of the parliamentary elections in April 2009 meant that under the given conditions failed the election of the new head of state. Also, a new election in July 2009 brought no solution to the stalemate, so that again new elections for the fall of 2010 had to be applied. In order to prevent a continuation of the political crisis over the recent elections addition, the Moldovan government decided to aim at a re- introduction of the direct election of the president before the date of the election.

Question

" Sînteţi pentru modificarea Constitutiei care să permită alegerea Preşedintelui Republicii Moldova de catre IntReg poporul? "

" Do you agree to a constitutional amendment that would allow election of the President of the Republic of Moldova by the entire people? "

Positioning of the political forces

While the government parties supported the constitutional amendment, the opposition Communists were against it and called for a boycott of the referendum, with the intent to suppress voter turnout below the mark of 33 % and to make the referendum as invalid.

Mood ahead of the referendum

According to a survey, whose results were published in August 2010, 74 % of Moldovans wanted to participate in the vote. A large majority of 91 % expressed wanting to vote for the constitutional amendment. At least the willingness to participate in the vote on should be no doubt in retrospect at the quality of this survey.

Ballot and result

During the first hours of the ballot a sluggish development of turnout drew from what was in contrast to the survey results published before the election that would point to a high public interest in the referendum. To 19 clock only just over a quarter of the electorate had voted. Post-election surveys, where also the nationality of the electorate was asked showed that the turnout at the largest ethnic minorities in the country, among Russians and Ukrainians, was significantly lower than among Moldovans, which form the majority population of the Republic of Moldova.

Overall, 87.83 % of voters voted for the referendum and 12.17% against. Of the approximately 2.7 million eligible voters well 818,000 participating in the vote. The turnout was thus only at 30.07 % and thus below the necessary participation of 33%. The constitutional amendment is failed.

Swell

• Democracy.md: Republican Constitutional referendum of September 5, 2010