Signature collection
Terms
The period for collecting signatures begins with the publication of the official announcement after Parliament has found the initiative admissible. It lasts six weeks, not including the day of the announcement.
Necessary number of signatures
- For a legislative initiative, at least 1,000 signatures of nationals entitled to vote are required
- For a constitutional initiative, at least 1,500 signatures of voting nationals are required.
Signature sheet
The signature sheet must contain:
- Municipality: The municipality in which the voters submitting the petition reside;
- Initiative text: The full text of the initiative;
- Initiation date: The start date of the collection of signatures (date of the official announcement);
- Certification: On the signature sheet is sufficient space for the certification of the signatures by the municipal administration to provide.
Each person entitled to vote shall provide the following information:
- Date of signature;
- first name and surname;
- exact address;
- own signature;
Certification by the municipality
The eligibility of the signatories to vote must be certified by the municipal authority of the municipality in which the same exercise their political Legal Division. The verification by the municipality shall be confirmed by signature and municipal stamp. The municipality also confirms the total number of valid signatures on each sheet.
Certification of signatures by the municipality shall be made within the specified period. No fees are charged for this.
Since the verification and certification of the signature sheets takes a certain amount of time and only the head of the municipality or their deputy is allowed to carry out the certification, we recommend contacting the municipalities as early as possible, especially during the times of school vacations.
Review of requests and publication
The government examines the submissions received from the petitioners for their legality and determines the number of signatures. The result is published and forwarded to Parliament in the form of a report and motion
Next step: Behandlung im Parliament