Referendum poll: 52% participation, 71% support presidential version

According to a recent poll by the Social Research Office (BCS), 52% of the Romanian respondents will participate in the referendum called by president Basescu on November 25. The referendum was organized in order to change the current electoral system (politically-decided party lists) with the uninominal system. Meanwhile, PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu and his cabinet assumed responsibility for an uninominal voting system described by president Traian Basescu as “incomplete”.

In Tariceanu’s version, a first ballot is designed to designate the winner, while the seats still vacant are filled by politicians on lists put up by parties. In president Basescu’s referendum, people are called to vote for a majority election system with two ballots for the individual candidates.

According to the poll, 35% of the respondents are sure they will participate in the referendum and 14% are almost sure. Out of these, 71% support the presidential demand, while 29% are against it.

Referring to the way they were informed on the electoral systems they have to choose from, 9.4% never even heard that the president called for a referendum.

71% say they can’t understand what they have to choose from, 8.1% say they understand they will vote for a person, not a party, in case the uninominal vote is accepted, while 5.5% understood that elections for the city halls and the presidency will take place at the same time.

The negative response rate may be due to the fact that the question asked in the referendum is confusing.

Over 29% of the voters don’t know that the Government assumed responsibility for Tariceanu’s version of then uninominal vote system.

Tariceanu’s supporters are divided between choosing a system in favor of large parties (32.4%) and in favor of small political formations (34%).

The positive / negative attitude towards the referendum is extremely balanced: 37.2% say that the referendum was still necessary, despite the Government assuming responsibility, while 36.1% say the referendum wasn’t necessary. 26.7% say they don’t know how useful the referendum is.

At the same time, 50.4% of the respondents say that president Basescu has called for the referendum in order to support the Democrat Party during the elections for the European Parliament, 49.7% say he did it in order to reform the political class, while 36.3% believe that the move is designed to expel the small parties from the political stage.