Pro-referendum signatures to be checked according to new regulation

The National Election Commission (CEC) has approved a regulation for the verification of the signatures required to start a nationwide Constitution-amending referendum, Info-Prim Neo reports. To enable the procedure, CEC has set up a commission to collect the signature lists and eight task units to check the lists and the signatures. The lists are to be submitted by the executive body of the group which initiated the procedure for the referendum no later than on June 23. Next day CEC shall meet to either give start to the verification procedure or reject the referendum request, depending on the records of the receipt commission. Under the regulation, signature authenticity will be checked visually by the members of the group, meaning the signatures will undergo a thorough verification as to individual particularities of spelling graphical signs and capital letters in certain words, letter terminations, combination of letters and ciphers. The signatures will also be checked against the database of personal signatures of the national ID agency “Registru”. CEC has 15 days from the submission of the signature lists to perform the authenticity check. According to Art. 141 of the Moldovan Constitution, the number of signatures required to initiate a nationwide constitutional referendum is at least 200,000. The initiative to start a Constitution-amending referendum belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party, which seeks to make the election of the president a matter of popular vote. The party also seeks to introduce a mixed electoral system, according to which 51 members of Parliament would be elected form multi-member party lists (as it is now), and the remaining 50 on a single-member-district basis. CEC registered the pro-referendum group on March 18. The quest for the signatures started on March 24 and is due to end on June 23.