Voters in the Hungarian-inhabited Romanian counties of Hargita and Kovászna were the least willing to express their vote at a referendum over the weekend aimed at changing the constitution to specify that marriage is between a man and a woman.
The “yes” vote in the referendum was backed by most Romanian churches, including the largest Orthodox Church, which also played an important role in bringing the issue to the table. Preliminary results showed that the turnout was 20.41 percent, well short of the minimum 30 percent required for validity.
Turnout in Kovászna county was the lowest in the country at 8.5 percent and the second lowest in Hargita county at 11.12 percent. Members of the Transylvanian LGBT community expressed their thanks to the Hungarian minority for their support in a Facebook post:
“Our thanks go to all those who rejected manipulation, who did not heed to the problems of Romanian families in stomping out a minority.”
The referendum would not have changed the legal status of same-sex marriages in Romania, as paragraphs 271 and 277 of the Civil Code already state that marriage is between two people of the opposite sex and that same-sex marriages are not recognized, respectively.
