duced several publications on the terms of entry and their implications, covering points raised in detailed surveys of public attitudes. The cost of the official campaign was £45,000 for a population of just under 3 million. The three main political parties also produced leaflets in the form of an election address which were delivered post-free to each elector.
The question put to the electorate in the EEC referendum, in both official languages and in the standard form under Article 46, was: Do you approve of the proposal to amend the Constitution contained in the under-mentioned Bill-Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1971?" The answer required was Yes or No. The Amendment in question, quoted in full on the official polling card, provided that the State might become a member of the European Communities and that no provision of the Constitution would invalidate laws etc. enacted by the State as a member of the Communities, or would prevent Community laws etc. from having the force of law in the State.
Referenda on constitutional amendments are decided by a simple majority of electors taking part; postal voting is available only for the police and Armed Forces. Constituency results are counted and announced by local returning officers who report them to the Referendum Returning Officer in the Department of Local Government. He declares the formal result on the aggregate of all indi- vidual votes. The total poll in the EEC Referendum was over 70 per cent.: 83 per cent. of the votes were in favour, 17 per cent. were against.
Sweden
Article 7:3 of the 1975 Constitution states: "Provisions for an advisory referendum throughout the country shall be laid down in law." There is no standing legislation. Three earlier referenda, on prohibition (1922), right-hand driving (1955) and social security (1957) were also advisory and their conduct was governed by special legislation in each case.
In 1955 and 1957 the State financed its own neutral information campaign and no ceilings were set for total expenditure. In 1955 the question of right-hand driving was not a politically significant issue, and the pros and cons were put by two ad hoc committees established with government approval. The political parties were active in the ad hoc committees established in 1957, however, as well as on their own behalf. One million kronor (approx. £69,000) were made available to each side in 1955 and two million kronor (approx. £138,900) in 1957, for a population of 8 million.
In 1955 the electorate were asked to vote Yes or No to the proposed intro- duction of right-hand driving, and in 1957 they were given the choice of three proposals for pension schemes. On this occasion a blank vote was considered as a vote against all three, and the result was inconclusive.
No majority requirements have been stipulated for referenda because of their advisory status, and the 1955 decision was reversed in 1967 without further recourse to referendum. The voting procedure and count have been based on the procedure in general elections, with postal and absent voting both permitted. Results have been published for constituencies and sub-constituencies as well as for the whole of the country.
Switzerland
At national level, all constitutional changes, and also certain international conventions, decided by the Legislature must be approved by national vote (the
16