2022 Serbian constitutional referendum

2022 Serbian constitutional referendum

16 January 2022 (2022-01-16)

Are you in favour of confirming the act on changing the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Yes 1,189,460 60.24%
No 785,163 39.76%
Valid votes 1,974,623 98.97%
Invalid or blank votes 20,592 1.03%
Total votes 1,995,215 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 6,510,323 30.65%

A map containing results of the 2022 constitutional referendum in Serbia
Results by municipality

A constitutional referendum was held in Serbia on 16 January 2022, in which voters decided on changing the Constitution in the part related to the judiciary.

To bring the judiciary into line with European Union legislation, the government had previously proposed changing the way judges and prosecutors are elected, and the National Assembly adopted it by a two-thirds majority on 7 June 2021, shortly before the parliamentary election in which the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won a supermajority of seats. The proclamation of the referendum was preceded by the adoption of changes to the law on referendum and people's initiative, which was initially supposed to get implemented shortly after the enactment of the 2006 constitution. The law, which was met with opposition from non-governmental organisations and activists, abolished the 50% turnout that was required for referendums to be considered valid. President Aleksandar Vučić amended the law following the escalation of environmental protests in December 2021.

Proposed changes included the elimination of several offices, expansion of the public prosecutor's office into a collective body, and changes regarding the election of judges. Government officials stated their support for such changes, while the opposition remained divided; most stated their objection to the referendum while some even called for a boycott or for the referendum to be postponed. The "yes" option prevailed over the "no" option in the referendum, although turnout was reported to be the lowest since 1990, at only 30% of voters in total. Non-governmental organisations reported irregularities at polling stations, and had also claimed voter fraud. Constitutional changes were adopted by the National Assembly on 9 February.