The voting was correct and in line with Council of Europe standards, Bauer said.
The referendum was organised at the initiative of citizens and some opposition parties that were against the enforcement of the new law regulating the changes the boundaries of towns and municipalities. The law is a key part of the Western-brokered Ohrid peace agreement that quelled an Albanian guerrilla insurgency after seven months of clashes with government forces in 2001. In August this year the Macedonian parliament adopted the law regulating the new internal territorial organisation, which elicited stormy reactions among some Macedonians and opposition parties who claimed that changes were in favour of ethnic Albanians. Consequently, an initiative was launched for collecting the required number of citizens' signatures so as to hold a referendum on the matter.
The state electoral commission said that the referendum failed because only 26 percent of the voters came to the polls.