Draft:2024 Ebenthal flag referendum

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The 2024 Ebenthal flag referendum is a referendum that will be held on 15 August 2024 in order to choose the national flag of Ebenthal. It is the second referendum of its kind in Ebenthal's history, following the 2020 referendum.

The referendum was proposed by Francisco Arrais, member of parliament for New Switzerland, in the wake of the 2024 Bolivian coup attempt, due to the similarity between the current Ebenthaler flag, introduced with the constitution promulgated in February, and the Bolivian flag. The referendum project was voted on and approved by the House of Councillors with a simple majority and obtained the Monarch's assent.

As revealed by the government, the referendum will accommodate a maximum of six flag proposals, including the current one. Flag proposals must be submitted to the Social Affairs Committee of the House of Aristocrats, which will select the final proposals. The proposal that receives approval by a simple majority, above the constitutionally permitted minimum threshold of 33.4% approval, wins the referendum and must be officially introduced through a constitutional amendment within three months.

Question

The question that will appear on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate will be:

If the Ebenthaler flag changes, which flag would you prefer?

Each citizen will have the right to one vote through the Google Forms platform via an email previously registered with the Ebenthaler government.

Opinion polling

The first opinion poll on the national flag referendum was conducted between 9 and 10 July by the Ministry of the Interior's Department of Public Research. The survey was conducted by e-mail, included the three competing flags in the period (the current, the old and Proposal I) and was answered by 39 Ebenthalers. On July 15th, the Zweig Institute began its own opinion poll on the proposed referendum flags and on the referendum itself. The pollcompleted on July 30th and it was conducted online via email and a Google form that will be available for access on the government website. On 13 August 2024 the government announced that according to the vote in the referendum, which began on the 10th and will conclude on the 15th, the red-gold-lead flag is already technically victorious, that is, it received more than 51% of the total possible votes and effectively no longer competes against other flag projects.

Date	Conducted by				Notes
9–11 July 2024	Department of Public Research	19%	46%	35%

Date	Conducted by					Notes
15–30 July 2024	Royal Zweig Institute	11%	52%	36%	2%

Criticism

The referendum process and alternative flag designs were heavily criticised. Former Prime Minister and Regent Raphael Sousa declared, in a session of the House of Aristocrats, that "[I] don't see the need for this; Ebenthal already has a solid visual identity", and the Countess of Barcelos added "this only harms our [Ebenthal's] stability". House of Councillors member Lucas Calizto, from the National Party for New Switzerland, called the referendum a "King's vanity project". Additionally, however, he admitted not liking the flag adopted with the 2024 Constitution, calling it "Bolivian-African flag", and criticizing the way it was adopted: imposed by the constitution granted by King Arthur II without popular or parliamentary consultation. Alessandro Rosas, the sole member of parliament from the Republican Party, and the pro-government members of the Movement for the Representation of the Foreign Minority, called the referendum a "distraction" citing the timing of and demands for change in Ebenthal.

Bias

Not necessarily opponents of the referendum, other Konkrëse members such as Thiago Walker and Daniel Vilela, both from New Democrats, accused the Monarch of lobbying for the adoption of Flag Proposal I, unofficially called "the Belgian" or "Germanized", proposed by Archchancellor Bernardo Barcelos, also from the New Democrats.

Result

The result will be announced at midnight on the day of voting, which will take place between 10 am and 6 pm on August 15th.

Choice		Votes	%
Ebenthal flag referendum, 2004 Result




Valid votes
Invalid or blank votes
Total votes

Registered voters and turnout

References