Almost 60% of Ukrainians back national referendum bill – poll

Almost 60% of Ukrainians back national referendum bill / Photo from UNIAN

Almost 60% of Ukrainians back the adoption of a bill on the national referendum.

These are findings of a poll conducted by the Rating Sociological Group on February 2-3, as reported on the agency's website on February 4.

In particular, 58% of the respondents back the adoption of the relevant bill, 28% of the pollees oppose it, while 14% are still undecided.

Mechanics of the poll

• The poll was conducted through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) using a random selection of cell numbers.
• The sample is representative of the adult population (aged 18 and older).
• Some 2,000 respondents were polled in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea and other Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine, namely certain districts in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• The margin of error does not exceed 2.2%.

Read alsoZelensky comments on national referendum bill passed by RadaNational referendum bill: Background

• The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on January 26 passed a bill on the national referendum.
• The document determines the possibility of holding an e-referendum, but only after a separate law is adopted that would regulate the relevant procedure.
• A referendum on a popular initiative is proclaimed by the president in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine. The national referendum on a popular initiative is proclaimed at the request of at least 3 million Ukrainian citizens who have the right to vote provided that signatures for the appointment of the referendum have been collected in at least two-thirds of the regions with at least 100,000 signatures secured in each such region.
• According to the bill, the following issues may be decided in a national referendum:

- Approval of the law on amendments to sections I, III, XIII of the Constitution of Ukraine;

- Issues of altering Ukraine borders; and

- Expiration of a law or its individual provisions.

• The bill also defines issues that cannot be a subject of a national referendum.