Early referendum tallies indicate a rejection of efforts to modernize Ireland's constitution with respect to the roles of family and women in society, reports said Saturday.
Preliminary results showed a strong support for 'no' votes on the double referendum, which sent Irish voters to the polls on Friday, multiple outlets including the Guardian reported, citing Agence France-Presse.
The first question on the dual referendum asked voters whether to expand the definition of family from a unit based on marriage to include other "durable relationships." The second asked whether to remove a constitutional reference to a mother's "duties in the home," replacing it with a clause referring to the care family members provide each other.
By Saturday, early returns reportedly suggested that the changes would not be approved, to the disappointment of supporters.
"No we didn't," said Irish Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan when asked whether the government got the result it had hoped for, according to the Guardian. "But you have to respect the voice of the people. We have to wait until the final count is done but if it is a No-No vote, we have to respect that."
"We didn't convince the public of the argument for a Yes-Yes vote," Ryan continued. "I think the next government will have to come back to this and consider the campaign and what were the arguments that merited a no vote in both cases."
All of Ireland's major political parties, as well as Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, had voiced support for both measures.
But opponents argued that the proposed new language was ill-defined and threatened to "cancel" the role of mothers.
Final results are expected by late Saturday.
