Citizens of the town slated to host Olympic skiiing events if Munich wins the 2018 Winter Games voted in a referendum on Sunday to support the bid.

The count in 14 districts gave the supporters of the bid 58 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results. About 21,000 people were eligible to vote in the Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Officials said the turnout was about 60 per cent.

“This is a good day,” the bid committee said in a statement.

Munich is running against Annecy, France and Pyeongchang, South Korea. The International Olympic Committee will award the games on 6 July.

Although the referendum was non-binding, a rejection by the town slated to host the glamorous Alpine events could have doomed the bid.

“The result, from our point of view, shows that the majority of the population is really in favor of bringing the Olympics to Garmisch,” said Bernhard Schwank, the chief executive of the Munich bid committee. “It was a very important step tonight to get this clear vote in Garmisch.”

There was a closer vote on another question put out by the opponents, on whether the contracts between the Garmisch city council and the International Olympic committee should be re-examined. The motion got just under 49.5 per cent of the vote to fall short.