October 26 (SeeNews) - The majority of Bulgarians backed in a referendum on Sunday a proposal for the introduction of electronic voting in elections but voter turnout was below the threshold for the outcome to be recognised as binding, official preliminary data showed on Monday.
Turnout in the referendum stood at 31.5% by 5 p.m, two hours before polling stations closed, according to data of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). As many as 71.96% voted in favour versus 28.04% who voted against, data published on the CEC website showed.
According to local polling agency Alpha Research, turnout stood at 37.5%, with 71% voting in favour of the electronic voting option.
For the referendum proposal to be directly accepted, voter turnout had to be the same as, or higher than, in the last parliamentary elections, with "yes" votes accounting for more than half of the total.
If voter turnout is less than in the last general elections but more than 20% of eligible voters go to the polls, and if more than half of them vote "yes", the issue goes to parliament to decide it.
In the last generation elections held in October 2014, a total of 3,500,585 people went to the polls, putting voter turnout at 48.66%.
The referendum was proposed by president Rosen Plevneliev in an attempt to make parliament more representative, raise voter turnout and boost public confidence in the state institutions.
In early 2014 Plevneliev said he will ask parliament to call a national referendum on changes to the country's electoral legislation, asking voters three questions: Do you support electing part of the members of parliament in a majority vote? Do you support the introduction of compulsory voting in elections and national referenda? Do you support remote electronic voting in elections and referenda?
However, voting on the president's proposal in July 2015, the National Assembly rejected his suggestion that the referendum include questions on the election of MPs via a majority vote and on the introduction of compulsory voting.
Currently, the 240 members of Bulgaria's National Assembly are elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. Political parties must poll at least 4.0% of the votes in order to enter parliament.
Sunday's referendum was conducted alongside local elections, which the centre-right GERB party won convincingly.
According to latest available preliminary data released by CEC, GERB garnered the majority of votes in most big cities, including the capital Sofia, the second biggest city of Plovdiv, and the coastal cities of Varna and Bourgas.
The last general elections held in October 2014, were again won by GERB, which polled 32.67% of the votes. Following the elections, GERB formed a coalition government with the Reformist Bloc - an alliance of right-wing parties, left-wing party ABV, and the Patriotic Front.