2022 Slovenian referendum explained

A three-part referendum was held in Slovenia on 27 November 2022.[1] Voters were asked whether they approve of proposals to repeal three laws; one on the cabinet of government ministers, one delaying a bill regarding long-term care for pensioners, and one on reorganising the governing bodies of state-owned broadcaster RTV Slovenija.[2] Voters voted in favour of retaining all three laws.[3]

Background

The repeal of the three laws was proposed by the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which collected the required 40,000 signatures for each proposal; 52,669 for the RTV proposal, 52,280 for the cabinet proposal and 52,182 for the long-term care act proposal (a modification of the act that had been passed by the SDS government that lost power in the April 2022 elections, further increasing funds and salaries but delaying the increase by one year).[2]

The incumbent government had passed the RTV governance legislation following claimed interference in the broadcaster by the previous SDS government. The legislation replaced the director general with a management board, and merged the programming council and supervisory board into a single council, none of whose members would be politically appointed.[2]

The SDS had wanted the referendum held alongside the second round of local elections on 4 December, but the date was set as 27 November.[1]

Electoral system

In order for the proposed repeals to succeed, a majority must vote in favour of the repeal, and the number voting to repeal must be at least 20% of the number of registered voters.[1]

Campaign

On 22 November 2022, RTV Slovenija broadcast a debate concerning the referendum on its reorganisation with spokespeople for all 27 official campaigns being present.[4]

Results

QuestionRetain lawRepeal lawInvalid/
blank
Total
votes
Registered
voters
TurnoutOutcome
Votes%Votes%
Cabinet of government ministers399,58856.69305,31743.313,710708,6151,694,34841.83
Long-term care for pensioners439,37662.27266,20637.733,209708,79141.84
Governing bodies of RTV Slovenija443,97162.83262,64837.172,347708,96641.85
Source: Volitve

Notes and References

  1. https://insideslovenia.si/580/triple-referendum-scheduled-for-27-november Triple referendum scheduled for 27 November
  2. https://insideslovenia.si/557/three-referendums-coming-up Three referendums coming up
  3. Web site: DVK - Volitve / Elections . 2022-11-28 . volitve.dvk-rs.si.
  4. Web site: Referendum 2022: Zakon o RTV Slovenija s tolmačem, 22. 11., ob 20. uri, TV MB . rtvslo.si . 21 November 2022.