Consideration of the Initiative of the Citizens on the Holding of the Republican Referendum
Signature lists shall be submitted by the initiative group not later than the date of expiry established for the collection of signatures to the regional or town executive committee or to the town district administration that shall, within a ten-day period, verify authenticity of citizens’ signatures in the signature lists. In this case, at least 20 per cent of the citizens’ signatures in the signature lists submitted by the initiative group shall be verified.
The procedure of verification and account of citizens’ signatures in the signature lists submitted to the bodies indicated in part one of this article shall be determined and the inauthentic citizens’ signatures shall be recognised inauthentic as provided for by parts thirteen and fourteen of Article 61 of this Code. Signatures of citizens collected before registration of the initiative group shall also be considered as inauthentic.
When several signatures of one and the same citizen have been found, the shall be considered only one signature authentic whereas the remainder of the signatures shall be considered as inauthentic.
If the number of citizens signatures found inauthentic during verification constitutes more than 15 per cent of the number of the signatures verified, another 15 per cent of the signatures in the signature lists submitted by a member (members) of the initiative group to the respective regional or town executive committee or the town district administration shall be verified.
If the total number of inauthentic citizens’ signatures found during verifications constitutes more than 15 per cent of the total number of signatures verified in the signature lists, a further verification of the signatures in the signature lists by the regional or town executive committee or by the town district administration shall be terminated and all signatures of citizens in the submitted signature lists shall not be taken into account in determining the results of collection of signatures in the region, town or town district.
The respective regional or town executive committee or the respective town district administration shall take the decision on the results of collection of citizens’ signatures in the signature lists in support of the initiative on the holding of the republican referendum which decision shall be forwarded to the Oblast or the Minsk City Executive Committee, respectively. The decision shall specify: the total number of signatures in the signature lists received from the initiative group; the number of signatures verified for authenticity; the number of signatures recognised authentic and the number of signatures recognised inauthentic.
Signature lists must be kept by the respective regional or town executive committees or by the town district administrations.
The Oblast and the Minsk City Executive Committees may, when required, also verify, within a five-day period, authenticity of citizens’ signatures in the signature lists. On the basis of the decisions of the regional or town executive committees or of the respective town district administrations on the establishment of the number of citizens who put their signatures in the signature lists in support of the initiative for the holding of the referendum and of the results of verification of authenticity of citizens signatures in the signature lists made by the Oblast or the Minsk City Executive Committee the Oblast and the Minsk City Executive Committee shall summarise the results of collection of signatures for the Oblast or the City of Minsk, take decision on this and forward it to the Central Commission. The decision shall specify data provided for by part six of this article. A copy of the decision shall be handed over to the co-ordinator of the initiative group.
After the Oblast and Minsk City Executive Committees have taken decisions, the initiative group shall make the final statement on the collection of signatures and shall submit it to the Central Commission.
The Central Commission shall:
verify the compliance of the final act of the initiative group and of the received decisions of the Oblast and Minsk City Executive Committees with the requirements of this Code and of other legislation acts of the Republic of Belarus;
make a conclusion on the observance by the initiative group of the requirements of this Code and a record on the results of collection of signatures confirming availability if at least 450 thousand citizens’ signatures including at least 30 thousand citizens’ signatures from each Oblast and from the City of Minsk.
The Central Commission shall transfer the final statement of the initiative group, together with its conclusion and the record, if there are no grounds for rejection of the proposal on the holding of the referendum, to the President of the Republic of Belarus.
The Central Commission shall reject the proposal on the holding of the referendum and shall inform about this the initiative group and the President of the Republic of Belarus in cases of:
violation of the term of collection of citizens’ signatures;
absence of the required number of signatures;
detection of violations of the voluntary principle in the course of collection of signatures found out as established by the Central Commission;
submission by the initiative group of more than fifteen per cent of inauthentic signatures of the total number of citizens’ signatures verified in the signature lists;
finding in the submitted documents of other violations of the requirements of this Code and of other legislation acts of the Republic of Belarus.
The decision of the Central Commission on rejection of the proposal for the holding of the referendum may be appealed against within a month period in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus (the appeal must be signed by the majority of the members of the initiative group).
A repeated initiation by citizens of the holding of a referendum on one and the same question shall be allowed not earlier than one year after the rejection of the proposal on the holding of the referendum and not earlier than three years after the holding of a referendum on this question.
