Berliners want better rules for referenda

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The campaign poster of the citizens' intiative in Berlin

Berliners want better rules for referenda

08-01-2014

50 per cent of Berlin’s citizens want a law that stipulates to hold referenda on the same day as general elections in the city of Berlin. Also, most Berliners (66%) do not approve the fact that the city government had chosen another date for the referendum on re-communalising Berlin’s energy than the date of the federal elections.

These are the main results of a public survey commissioned by Democracy International’s partner organisation Mehr Demokratie. The survey was polled by the company Forsa in the aftermath of the referendum on giving back the power grid to Berlin’s citizens held in November 2013. This referendum was declared invalid as it had failed the required approval quorum of 25 per cent – in absolute numbers 21,374 Yes-votes were missing.

1003 Berliners were questioned from 9 - 19 December 2013.

The results in detail:

Qu. 1). Should a law stipulate that referenda coincide with general elections?
	Yes (in %)	No (in %)
Total	50	46
East-Berlin	53	42
West Berlin	48	48

Qu. 2). Is it okay for you that two out of four referenda were held on a separate day than elections (in 2 out of 4 cases)?
	Yes (in %)	No (in %)
Total	25	66
East-Berlin	24	65
West Berlin	26	67

Qu.3) Why did you not participate in the referendum on re-communalising energy?	Total (in %)
… because I did not make it or did not know about it	36
… because I did not have sufficient information and the topic was too complicated	21
.. because the Senate wanted to pass legislation on the issue anyway, therefore the referendum was not necessary	17
… because I did not know which side to opt for	14
… because I was not interested in the issue	13
… because I was against the law proposal	11
… due to sickness or age	5