referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on changing the parliamentary

electoral system An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

to a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

was held in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 25 November 2007, on the same date as the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

. The referendum was called by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

on 23 October 2007 when the

Parliament of Romania The Parliament of Romania () is the national Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate of Romania, Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...

failed to meet a deadline set by him to pass these changes. The precise question was: While the system proposed by Băsescu would mirror the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

two-round electoral system, former National Liberal Party (PNL)

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania, prime minister of Romania from 2004 to 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...

proposed a

mixed member proportional Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral systems which combine local winner-take-all elections with a compensatory tier with party lists, in a way that produces p ...

system based on the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

electoral system. The proposed legislation would also reduce the number of MPs by about 20 per cent. While the

Greater Romania Party The Greater Romania Party (, PRM) is a Romanian far-right political party. Founded in May 1991 by Eugen Barbu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor, it was led by the latter from that point until his death in September 2015. The party is sometimes referred ...

(PRM) challenged the legality of holding the referendum at the same time as the EP election, the

Constitutional Court of Romania The Constitutional Court of Romania () is the institution which rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by Romanian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution. It consists of nine members serving nine-year terms which ...

decided on November 7 that it was not illegal.

Results

Although 81% of voters were in favour of the proposal, the low turnout of 26% meant that the referendum was invalid. Thus, the MMP proposal of PM Tăriceanu was used at the next elections instead.Romania faces its first uninominal voting on Sunday
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References

Electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated s ...

Referendums in Romania Electoral reform referendums Electoral reform in Romania

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