Euronews reports that the referendum was initiated by the extra-parliamentary party “Democrats” (Demokrati).
Initially, a third question was also proposed—regarding the shortening of the current electoral cycle—but Slovak President Petr Pellegrini ruled that it was unconstitutional.
This is the tenth referendum in Slovakia’s history; the last one took place in 2023 and concerned amendments to the Constitution.
Because voter turnout fell short of the required threshold, only one referendum—held in 2003 on the country’s accession to the European Union—was deemed valid.
According to analysts, it is unlikely that enough people will turn out to vote this time either. For the referendum to be considered valid, at least 2.2 million voters—half plus one of the total number of eligible voters—must participate.
According to the Slovak Statistical Office, more than 4.3 million residents of the country are eligible to vote.
Unofficial results are expected to be released later tonight, with the official final results to be announced on Sunday.
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