 The declaration was made in an attempt to legitimize a referendum on the status of Crimea where citizens were to vote on whether Crimea should apply to join Russia as a federal subject of the Russian Federation, or remain part of Ukraine.On 16 March 2014, a large majority (reported as 96.77% of those 81.36% of the population of Crimea who voted) voted in favour of independence of Crimea from Ukraine and joining Russia as a federal subject.After the referendum, Crimean lawmakers formally voted both to secede from Ukraine and ask for membership in the Russian Federation.