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2007 Alslandic same-sex Marriage referendum

2007 Alslandic same-sex Marriage referendum
Should the United Provinces of Alsland allow marriage between same-sex couples?
Location	Alsland
Date	15 June 2007 (2007-06-15)
Results Votes % Yes 3,935,311 7001592600000000000♠59.26% No 2,705,508 7001407400000000000♠40.74% Valid votes 6,640,819 7001995600000000000♠99.56% Invalid or blank votes 29,151 6999440000000000000♠0.44% Total votes 6,669,970 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 7,963,944 7001837500000000000♠83.75%
Results by province How the electorate voted, by province. Proportion of the valid poll voting yes:
Source: Alslandic Government

The 2007 Alslandic Same-Sex Marriage referendum took place on 15 June 2007 in Alsland to ask the electorate whether Alsland should legalise same-sex marriages. Prior to the referendum same-sex couples were allowed to enter civil unions and foreign marriages were recognised. The government of Jabik Nieuwenhuis promised a referendum on same-sex marriage in their manifesto for the 2005 General election. The referendum resulted in 59.3% of votes being cast in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. The resulting Marriage Act 2007 was passed nearly unanimously in the Folkssenaat and was signed by President Onne Monsma on August 11, 2005. The act came into force on November 23 2007 the day after Jabik Nieuwenhuis was removed from office by Onne Monsma. The first same-sex marriage ceremony in Alsland occurred on November 29 2007.

Support and Opposition

Party positions

Position	Political parties
Yes		Worker's Party
		Progressive Alliance
		The Centre
		ASAY
		United Democratic Union
		Greens and Socialists
		Radical
No		Sotirian Union
		Justice Party
		Alslandic Resistance
		National Rally
No official stance		Conservative Party
		Sotirian Democratic Front
		Democrats

Public opinion

Date	Firm	Yes	No	Undecided	Sample size
11–14 June 2007	ANS	55%	42%	3%	1,000
2–8 June 2007	Hjoed	62%	38%	-	1,200
25–30 May 2007	TBD	56%	42%	2%	1,200
26–29 May 2007	Hjoed	60%	40%	-	1,000
19–24 May 2007	TBD	54%	46%	-	1,730
10–14 May 2007	JaAlslân	59%	39%	2%	1,500
2–6 May 2007	Yndyktinkt	66%	30%	4%	1,800
15-20 April 2007	TBD	52%	45%	3%	1,000
4-8 April 2007	TBD	56%	44%	-	1,200
25-27 March 2007	TBD	57%	40%	3%	1,250
20-23 March 2007	Hjoed	60%	40%	-	1,500

Campaign

Attempted assassination of Jabik Nieuwenhuis

On 14 June 2007, the day before the scheduled date of the referendum and the final day of campaigning, Tilman Schricker a 42 year old man from Garz attempted to stab Premier Jabik Nieuwenhuis with a 12 inch Kitchen Knife at a campaign visit in Werdau. Nieuwenhuis escaped injury after Schricker stabbed a police officer in the shoulder who had been preventing Schricker from approaching Nieuwenhuis. Schricker was detained immediately after this and Nieuwenhuis was evacuated. Campaigning was suspended nationwide for the rest of the day.

When questioned following his arrest, Schricker didn't cite the referendum as a cause for the attempted assassination but it was later revealed that Schricker was a member of the anti-LGBT Stadtbäumer Foundation which had vigorously opposed the referendum. However initial reports in the media said the attempted assassination was motivated by the decision to hold the referendum and Nieuwenhuis' support for same-sex marriage.

Result

National result

2007 Alslandic Same-sex Marriage referendum

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	3,935,311	59.3
No	2,705,508	40.7
Valid votes	6,640,819	99.6
Invalid or blank votes	29,151	0.4
Total votes	6,669,970	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	7,963,944	83.8

Referendum results

Yes: 3,935,311 (59.3%)	No: 2,705,508 (40.7%)
▲

Result by Province

Breakdown of voting by province

Province	Yes		No		Invalid
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Delland	950,928	63.2%	541,668	36%	0.8%
Fawkhamshire	378,737	54.8%	310,315	44.9%	0.3%
Garz	580,737	55.4%	480,104	45.8%	0.8%
Hamptonshire	591,191	61.2%	364,181	37.7%	1.1%
Martiland	284,287	51.8%	260,688	47.5%	0.7%
Middewald	352,279	65.3%	185,040	34.3%	0.4%
Yndyk	378,286	71.3%	149,086	28.1%	0.6%
Zittau	418,866	49.8%	420,592	50%	0.2%

Criticism

Plans to hold a referendum were criticised by several LGBT rights advocacy groups who called the decision to have the majority vote on the rights of a minority group. During initial debates on holding a referendum, Senator Emo Akkerman who is openly Bisexual said that holding a referendum could set a dangerous precedence for other countries to deny LGBT citizens their rights if a referendum is held. Akkerman voted to hold the referendum during the vote on the issue.

In 2011, Premier Jonathan Fraser criticised the move to hold a referendum saying that the process would have been much faster had the Marriage Act 2007 been voted on in the Folkssenaat where there was overwhelming support for it. Fraser was outed as Gay in 2003 and was one of the most prominent figures within the 'Yes' campaign.

List of Alslandic governments

	President		Premier		Governing parties				Government
1920		Kei Holwerda		Siemen Hartmann	DNM	DC	SPP	FDU	Hartmann government
1921				Douglas Cunningham					Cunningham government
1924				Viktor Funke	LP		FDU		Funke government
1925		Liuwke Talsma
1927				Tsjaable Wouda	SAP		AB		Wouda government
1929				Villem Mand	AB				Mand government
1939				Sjemme Boersma					Boersma government
1940		Villem Mand
1942				Djurre De Vos					De Vos government
1942				Laas Keuning					Keuning government
1945		Adam Schmiedeberg
1948				Samuel Hudson	SF		SDyD	ASAY	Hudson government
1950		Tys Jonker
1952				Witte Reitsma					First Reitsma government
1957					PA				Second Reitsma government
1960		Dougie Hayes		Eric Feigenspan	NB		FDU		Feigenspan government
1962				Konrad Neuheuser					First Neuheuser government
1963							IS		Second Neuheuser government
1964				Marshall Harvey			IS	FDU	First Harvey government
1965		Boate Hamstra
1969					NB (minority)				Second Harvey government
1970		Hinne Jorritsma			NB		FDU		Third Harvey government
1973							IS	FDU	Fourth Harvey government
1976				Urseltsje Van Der Hoek	PA		GS		Van Der Hoek government
1977				Stendert Snijder					Snijder government
1979				Declan Walker					Walker government
1980		Marshall Harvey
1985				Ygram Hoeksma	NB		PA		Hoeksma-Wijma government
1989		Jimte Gorter
1990		Martina Scott							Hoeksma-Brötzmann government
1991				Adalbrecht Brötzmann	PA				First Brötzmann government
1994					PA (minority)
1997					PA		IS		Second Brötzmann government
2000		Drewes Brandsma		Bonne Zijlstra	PA				First Zijlstra government
2003					PA		GS		Second Zijlstra government
2004				Martina Scott			IS		Scott government
2005		Onne Monsma
2006				Jabik Nieuwenhuis	AP		GS	ASAY	Nieuwenhuis government
2007				Jochen Schünemann	NB (minority)				Schünemann government
2008		Gwen Ritter		Jabik Nieuwenhuis	AP		GS	ASAY	Nieuwenhuis government
2009				Asser Toman	NB	PA	IS	FDU	Toman government
2010		Addik Kuiken
2011				Jonathan Fraser	PA		GS		Fraser government
2014				Aarnd Hellinga	NB		IS	FDU	Hellinga government
2015		Hepke Veltman		Aachtsje Wieringa					Wieringa government
2017				Lilliana Elliott	NB	IS	FDU	NR	Elliott government
2020				Ottila Möller	PA (minority)				Möller government