The referendum was prompted by nurses who were dismissed from their jobs at Łużyckie Centrum Medyczne in Lubań at the beginning of this year. Since then, around one hundred former employees of the Centre, including midwives and doctors, have been fighting for reinstatement or the payment of severance pay and compensation.
According to the protesters, the current county council and the starosta are unable to resolve the healthcare problem in the county. Hence the idea of holding a referendum on dismissing the authorities. The nurses themselves collected more than five thousand signatures and submitted an application to the Jelenia Góra branch office of the National Electoral Commission.
County residents can vote at 40 polling station commissions. More than 46,000 people are eligible to participate in the referendum. For the referendum to be valid, 30% of them must take part. Polling stations will close at 8 p.m.