According to an evaluation, in Bavaria people are allowed to have a say in public events more often by voting, for example in referendums, than in other federal states. Nationwide, every second referendum takes place in Bavaria, according to the evaluation by the association More Democracy Bavaria, which was published on Tuesday.
In total, there were 76 referendums in the Free State last year, which corresponds to 55 percent of the nationwide procedures of this type, the association said. In 2023, people in Bavaria would also make active use of their right to participation, said Theresa Niederberger from the association’s state board.
Parallel to the state elections on October 8th alone, 24 referendums took place in Bavaria. It is often about construction projects, for example commercial areas or supermarkets. However, there is still the opinion that referendums are used as a preventive tactic to torpedo the work of the local councils, emphasized Niederberger. However, almost half of the referendums were successful. Only five failed to meet the required quorum. This shows that the right to participation is also accepted and that people make decisions based on their preferences on a case-by-case basis.