Polakovic: Course of Saturday's Referendum Was Calm

Bratislava, 5 July (TASR) - The course of Saturday's (4 July) referendum in Slovakia was calm, Police Corps Vice-president Rastislav Polakovic told a news conference on Sunday, adding that the police recorded no incidents that would disrupt public order or hinder the conduct of the referendum in any way. The police recorded several complaints, but no criminal offence on Saturday. According to the Police Corps Vice-president, they registered two misdemeanours. The first occurred in Ziar nad Hronom (Banska Bystrica region), where a member of an electoral commission was found to be under the influence of alcohol and had to be replaced. "The second misdemeanour was recorded in the town of Ruzomberok (Zilina region), where a man came to a polling station apparently under the influence of alcohol and behaved in a vulgar manner. We are examining this incident as well," said Polakovic. "We also dealt with a few minor complaints, but none of them proved to be substantiated," stated the Police Corps vice-president. The police also assisted in verifying incidents involving voters who wanted to exercise their right to vote using a passport. They were not allowed to do so, as voting in the referendum was only possible with an ID card. Martin Gajdos, head of the Interior Ministry's Elections, Referendum and Political Parties Section stated that the referendum proceeded smoothly and without any disruptive moments. "The two situations that resulted in a short extension of voting time were not caused by any errors on the part of electoral commissions. They were really caused by vis major - a health issue and children playing," explained Gajdos. State Electoral Commission chairman Eduard Burda on Sunday stated that the referendum results didn't reach the required 50-percent voter turnout for the vote to be considered valid. A total of 16.13 percent of eligible voters took part in the referendum. ko