A referendum seeking to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in Romanian law has failed, due to low turnout.
Currently, the country’s constitution speaks of unions between “spouses”, but voters were asked to decide whether it should specify that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman.
The vote was triggered by a petition organised by the Coalition for the Family group, with over three million people backing the call for a public vote.
‘Boycott’
The referendum – on Saturday and Sunday – required a 30 per cent turnout to be valid. However, only 20 per cent of voters cast their ballots.
LGBT rights group MozaiQ encouraged people to boycott the vote with several companies and popular musicians following suit.
More than 40 members of the European Parliament also wrote to Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă to express criticism of the vote.
Civil partnerships
Romania does not currently allow same-sex marriage. But the proposed amendment would have made it more difficult to change the law in future.
Plans to introduce legislation for same-sex civil partnerships is slated for future Parliamentary consideration.