Two referendums were held in

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

on 20 October 2013. Voters were asked whether they approved of measures to tie salary increase to inflation and whether the country should submit an application to join the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Although both proposals had a majority vote in favour, neither reached the

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...

of 32% of eligible voters in favour (10,657 voters), resulting in both proposals being rejected.

Background

Referendums in San Marino require 32% of eligible voters to vote yes to pass. People who are citizens of San Marino but live abroad can not vote. The referendum question on salaries was organised by the Democratic Confederation of San Marino Workers and proposed that salaries would be revalued on 1 January at the same rate as the Government's official inflation figure. While San Marino is not a part of the European Union the two share close diplomatic ties. San Marino is a member of the European Union's

European Union Customs Union The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dheke ...

and

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides ...

, as well as using the Euro as its official currency. The European Union did not formally offer membership to San Marino, instead it was listed due to a citizen helmed proposal. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

had previously issued a report stating that

microstates A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Some recent attempts to define microstates ...

should not join the European Union.

Results

The election was held on October 20, 2013. While both proposals both received over fifty percent of the vote due to low voter turnout neither reached the quorum of 32% of eligible voters in favour, resulting in both being rejected. The rejection of the European Union question was attributed to the amount of Sammarinese living abroad, who would be affected by it, being ineligible to vote.

References

{{Sammarinese elections

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 ...

Referendums in San Marino