Alsace voters reject merger

PLANS to merge the departmental councils of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin with Alsace regional council have been voted down in a referendum.

The plan for a super-region was rejected by 55% of the votes in Haut-Rhin and carried in Bas-Rhin, but there were too few voters there to make the result count. To be legal the merger had to be supported by a minimum of 25% of the total electorate and only one in three voters bothered to turn out.

In Bas-Rhin the turn-out was just 22.9% - which was enough to rule out the merger despite the actual vote being 67.5% for the change.

Local politicians had expected a Yes vote but voters in Haut-Rhin were thought to have rejected any increase in powers for Strasbourg in Bas-Rhin. Had it gone ahead, it would have been the first time a unitary authority had been created in France.
Photo: JDMartinho-Flickr