Slovenes voted overwhelmingly against restoring rights as legal residents to thousands of members of ethnic minority groups who were deleted from the country's population register after Slovenia declared its independence 12 years ago.
Sunday's non-binding referendum has ignited nationalist sentiment in this small Alpine country, wedged between the Alps and the Balkans, of 2 million people.
The official returns showed that 95 percent of voters opposed reinstating permanent residency and other rights to the more than 18,000 people -- mostly Bosnians, Croats and Serbs -- who were erased from state records under an administrative decision made after Slovenia declared independence from the old Yugoslav federation in 1991.
Only 4 percent supported last year's Constitutional Court ruling that recommended the government restore rights to the group, widely known here as "The Erased."
Although the referendum does not alter the court's ruling, it harbingers a shift from Prime Minister Anton Rop's center-left to the conservative right in upcoming parliamentary elections to be held in the fall.
More than a third of the 1.6 million eligible voters cast ballots.
"The referendum is a flexing of political muscles," said analyst Miso Alkalaj. "The turnout was solid and the outcome indicates that nationalist parties have grown in strength and potential."
Slovene nationalists opposed restoring rights to the erased, arguing that the fledgling country could be forced to pay billions in punitive damages.
Leading politicians and human rights advocates urged people to boycott the vote, which they considered an affront to minority groups.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the capital, Ljubljana, to protest the referendum, chanting anti-nationalist slogans and burning fliers urging people to vote.
"It is a manifestation of racism, intolerance and extreme nationalism," said Tanja Rener, a sociologist. "The mere holding of the vote is a loss for democracy and human rights and a victory for those who preach about blood and territory."
The "erasure" came in the turbulent days of Yugoslavia's bloody disintegration into independent republics in 1991.
Ethnic Slovenes were automatically given Slovenian citizenship after the country seceded from the Yugoslav federation, while people of other ethnic backgrounds were required to apply for citizenship in the new nation.
Those who had not done so within a year were simply deleted from the national register without any public warning or announcement -- effectively losing their right to permanent residency, which is a precondition for other state privileges, such as pensions and health benefits.
At least seven people committed suicide in despair, while thousands lost their jobs. Some were arrested for simple offenses such as jaywalking and were deported for lack of documents.
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