Referendums in Dryicor

Referendums in Dryicor are occasionally held on a local, regional or national basis. The Constitution of Dryicor mandates that any changes to the Constitution require a 60% majority to pass, and also that any multinational treaties involving the country must be put to a referendum.

National referendums must be detailed in an Act passed by the Parliament of Dryicor and, unless stipulated in the Act, must be done on a 'one-member, one-vote' basis, unlike elections, which use a combination of national seats and electoral districts. The voting age in a referendum is 18.

Referendums can be called in four ways:
 * Unilaterally by the Prime Minister, subject to a vote in Parliament
 * If the Parliament votes for one
 * If the Parliament votes to impeach the Prime Minister (but no other member), a referendum is called on their guilt
 * If 10% of the electorate vote to hold a referendum on an Act currently going through Parliament (since 2015)

All referendums have been called in the second and fourth ways. In 1959, a referendum after an impeachment vote almost occurred, however, due to a successful political gambit to instead force a general election, a referendum was avoided

Due to the sheer amount of votes that have to often be carried out, usually multiple referendums will be on the same day.

List of referendum days
Under the 1946 Constitution these would have needed to pass a 60% threshold, however under the old constitution this stipulation was not inserted. Referendum on the Constitution of Dryicor. Referendum on the establishing the Nordic passport union. Referendum on replacing the system in each constituency (which was credited in the 1963 general election with the Conservative Party winning the most seats but with far fewer votes) with candidates needing 50% of the vote to win in each constituency. As a constitutional amendment, the referendum needed 60% to pass. Referendum on replacing the purely constituency-based voting system with a region-based system with multi-member regions. As a constitutional amendment, the referendum needed 60% to pass. Referendum on forming the Sámi Parliament of Dryicor. As a constitutional amendment, the referendum needed 60% to pass. Referendum on replacing the constituency-based voting system with a nationally proportional system, however as a constitutional amendment it required 60% to pass, the first referendum to be accepted by voters but fail due to this stipulation. Referendum on Dryicor ratifying the. Referendum on Dryicor joining the programme. Passed, as it did not change the Constitution. Referendum on Dryicor joining the European Union. Referendum on changing the constituency-based voting system to a mix of a national proportional vote and multi-member constituencies. Referendum on the Parliament of Dryicor adding an elected upper house. Referendum on adopting the. A referendum for Dryicor to adopt a presidential system as well as maintaining the Prime Minister's position, with Emperor-level powers. Ratifying the. Ratifying the. Referendum on proposed devolution to the regions and turning Dryicor into a federal state. Referendum on further devolution to the Sámi Parliament of Dryicor. Referendum on an amendment to the Constitution to force the Prime Minister to call a referendum on any bill going through Parliament if 10% of the electorate sign a petition against the Bill. As a Constitutional amendment, it required 60% to pass. Referendum on Dryicor ratifying the. Referendum on an Act of Parliament to give the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. The first referendum to be called under the "Citizens' Voice" amendment. Referendum on an Act to give the Prime Minister emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Called under Citizens' Voice and first to be rejected under the new system.
 * 24 March 1946
 * 1946 institutional referendum (24 March 1946):
 * First question (accepted 62% to 38%) Voting on abolishing the monarchy and imperial family.
 * Second question (rejected 52% to 48%) Voting on, in the event of a successful vote to abolish the monarchy, if the name of the country would change to "Republic of Dryicor".
 * Third question (rejected 71% to 29%) To confer powers held ceremonially by the imperial family onto a president if the monarchy vote were successful.
 * 8 April 1947
 * 1947 constitutional referendum (accepted 65% to 35%)
 * 1947 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling referendum (rejected 60% to 40%)
 * 29 April 1962
 * 1962 Helsinki Treaty referendum (29 April 1962; accepted 74% to 26%)
 * 12 June 1966
 * 1966 proportional representation referendum (accepted 68% to 32%)
 * 9 May 1971
 * 1971 regional voting referendum (rejected 61% to 39%)
 * 13 April 1975
 * 1975 Sámi Parliament referendum (accepted 85% to 15%)
 * 16 February 1982
 * 1982 Berne Convention referendum (accepted 72% to 28%)
 * 1982 Bonn Convention referendum (accepted 80% to 20%)
 * 19 April 1987
 * 1987 voting reform referendum (accepted 55% to 45% but failed 60% requirement)
 * 18 January 1988
 * 1988 Montreal Protocol referendum (accepted 88% to 13%)
 * 17 October 1993
 * 1993 Dryicor Partnership for Peace referendum (accepted 54% to 46%)
 * 14 November 1994
 * 1994 European Union membership referendum (rejected 68% to 32%)
 * 16 May 1995
 * 1995 voting reform referendum (accepted 66% to 33%)
 * 15 May 1997
 * 1997 bicameral parliament referendum (15 May 1997; rejected 73% to 27%)
 * 15 March 1998
 * 1998 Kyoto Protocol referendum (15 March 1998; accepted 80% to 20%)
 * 18 May 2003:
 * 2003 presidential referendum (rejected 62% to 38%)
 * 2003 International Seed Treaty referendum (accepted 75% to 25%)
 * 2003 Stockholm Convention referendum (accepted 81% to 19%)
 * 15 July 2007:
 * 2007 regional assemblies referendum (rejected 55% to 45%)
 * 1 November 2008:
 * 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions referendum (accepted 84% to 16%)
 * 9 October 2011
 * 2011 Sámi Parliament referendum (9 October 2011; accepted 78% to 22%)
 * 8 October 2015
 * 2015 Citizens' Voice referendum (8 October 2015; accepted 64% to 36%)
 * 18 June 2016
 * 2016 Paris Agreement referendum (18 June 2016; accepted 66% to 34%)
 * 2016 Minamata Convention referendum (accepted 91% to 9%)
 * 18 November 2018
 * 2018 Votes for 16 referendum (18 November 2018; rejected 53% to 47%)
 * 27 February 2020
 * 2020 Coronavirus Act referendum (27 February 2020; accepted 78% to 22%)

Future referendums
Referendum on membership. Referendum to raise the Citizens' Voice
 * 2024 NATO membership referendum (21 April 2024)
 * 2024 Citizens' Voice referendum (21 April 2024)

Criticisms
A criticism of Citizens' Voice referendums is that, unusually for a referendum, "Yes" is always the status quo option, which occasionally confuses voters. Additionally, the 10% threshold is sometimes criticised as being too low, especially regarding the 2020 Coronavirus Act referendum.

The 2020 referendum was also criticised, especially when it was suggested that it helped spread COVID-19 in Dryicor and delayed the pandemic response. Pulkkinen had also previously called a snap general election for a few weeks earlier which was considered a mandate to start the pandemic response, without the further referendum. Erno Pulkkinen used this as his reasoning for calling a referendum on raising the threshold for a Citizens' Voice from 10% to 20% in April 2024.