A man sits under heart shaped graffiti with the text "Love", in a nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018. Polls have closed in Romania after two days of voting on a constitutional amendment that would make it harder to legalize same-sex marriage. But the weekend referendum to redefine marriage failed to attract large numbers of voters and risk being voided. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Republished October 08, 2018 - 6:50 AM
Original Publication Date October 08, 2018 - 1:41 AM
BUCHAREST, Romania - More than 90 per cent of those who took part in a national referendum in Romania supported defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but the vote was invalidated as too few people cast ballots, officials said Monday.
The Central Electoral Commission said near-final results showed 91.61 per cent of voters approved a constitutional amendment to change the definition of marriage — it currently says it's a union between "spouses."
But the ballot failed to attract the minimum 30 per cent turnout for the result to stand.
Election officials said just 20.41 per cent of eligible voters participated in the weekend referendum. Gay rights group Accept said the result showed citizens "want a Romania based upon democratic values."
Romania's Orthodox Church, which backed the referendum, on Monday encouraged followers to unite "and to continue to defend the family blessed by God." It called the vote "a partial success which calls us to hope and work more."
It added that the church had fulfilled its "civic and moral mission publicly by defending the identity and worth of the family as a human institution created and blessed by God." However, it added that the referendum had revealed "the level of secularization of Romanian society."
Opponents argued the new constitutional language could make LGBT people feel like second-class citizens and make other non-traditional families targets of discrimination.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018