At the time that the Hamburg, Germany 2024 Olympic bid was laid to rest in defeat, there were no plans for any of the remaining candidate cities of Los Angeles, Budapest, Rome or Paris to entertain its own public voting referendums.
That decision may yet be changing, however, as support is growing in Budapest for the public to be heard regarding the city’s 2024 Olympic Games candidacy. Even in light of a recent poll conducted by a French market research company, citing 60% of the Hungarian public stating they would be “proud” if Budapest were to earn the bid, a referendum may still be in the bid’s future.
Inside the Games reports that a public vote will be held if an opposition initiative attracts 140,000 signatures. Both the LMP and Jobbik political parties within Hungary supposedly support the idea of a referendum, but the currently-in-power Fidesz claims it is “too late to ask the opinion of voters.”
This isn’t the first time the idea of a referendum was brought to the government’s attention, as a vote on this topic took place already just earlier this month. The Budapest City Council had put forth a proposal to hold a public referendum to consider whether the city should indeed continue with its bid for the 2024 Olympic Games. In a vote, the idea was rejected by a tally of 16 to 14, with 2 abstentions.