2009 Romanian parliamentary reform referendum

2009 Romanian parliamentary reform referendum

22 November 2009

Do you agree to the transition to a unicameral Parliament in Romania?[1]
Yes
77.78%
No
22.22%
Do you agree to the reduction of the number of members of parliament to a maximum of 300 persons?[1]
Yes
88.84%
No
11.16%

A referendum on modifying the size and structure of the Parliament from the current bicameral one with 137 senators and 334 deputies to a unicameral one with a maximum of 300 seats was held in Romania on 22 November 2009, at the same time as the first round of the 2009 presidential election. Electors were asked two questions on two separate ballots:

  1. Do you agree to the transition to a unicameral Parliament in Romania? (Romanian: Sunteți de acord cu trecerea la un Parlament unicameral în România?)
  2. Do you agree to the reduction of the number of members of parliament to a maximum of 300 persons? (Romanian: Sunteți de acord cu reducererea numărului de parlamentari la maximum 300 de persoane?)

According to the Romanian law, in order for the referendum to be validated, 50% plus one of the total number of eligible voters (i.e. of the number of people that appear on the official electoral list) had to cast their vote. According to the final tally by the Romanian Central Electoral Commission, 9,320,240 of the 18,293,277 eligible voters participated, thus validating the referendum with a turnout rate of 50.95%.[2]