The Constitution of Italy provides for legally binding referenda. A referendum can be called in order to abrogate totally or partially a law, but only at the request of 500,000 electors or five regional councils. It is forbidden to call a referendum regarding financial laws or laws relating to pardons or the ratification of international treaties. Any citizen entitled to vote in an election to the Chamber of Deputies may participate in a referendum. The following referenda have occurred in Italy since 1946:
A referendum (plural: 'referendums' or 'referenda') or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal.
A further perceived flaw of the referendum is that in some circumstances the democratic spirit of the referendum may be flouted by the repeated submission to the referendum of a proposal until it is eventually endorsed, perhaps due to a low turn-out or public fatigue with the issue.
In Switzerland, for example, multiple choice referendums are common; two multiple choice referendums held in Sweden, in 1957 and 1980, offered voters a choice of three options; and in 1977 a referendum held in Australia to determine a new national anthem was held in which voters were presented with four choices.
A referendum may be challenged on constitutional grounds, on grounds that proper procedures were not followed in the referendum process and election, or on grounds that the referendum or initiative was outside the scope of authority granted by the state constitution.
A referendum (plural: 'referendums' or 'referenda' [N.B. referenda implies a plurality of issues]) or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal.
Referendums are rare and only once has a referendum proposal been put to the entire electorate of the UK; this was a referendum in 1975 on continued membership of the European Economic Community.
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