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Question |
Value |
Legal provisions for mandatory referendums at national level |
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Legal provisions for optional referendums at national level |
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Legal provisions for citizens' initiatives at national level |
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Legal provisions for agenda initiatives at national level |
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Legal provisions for recall at national level |
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Legal provisions for direct democracy at the regional level |
- Optional referendum
- Agenda initiative
- Recall
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Legal provisions for direct democracy at the local level |
- Optional referendum
- Agenda initiative
- Recall
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Legal basis for direct democracy at the national level |
- Constitutional
- Specific laws/legislation
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Legal basis for administrative requirements at the national level |
- Constitutional
- Specific laws/legislation
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Who administers direct democracy mechanisms at the national level? |
- Independent electoral commission
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First referendum/initiative held |
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Has there been a national referendum since 1980? |
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Question |
Value |
Issues in relation to which referendums are mandatory at the national level |
- Constitutional amendments
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Issues in relation to which referendums are optional at the national level |
- Constitutional amendments
- Approval of any law, or disapproval of any law, legislative decree or urgency decree
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Issues excluded from being the subject of referendums at the national level |
- Taxes and public expenditure commitments
- Any issue that implies diminishing or suppressing human rights or an international treaty already in force
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Issues of sub-national referendums regulated at the national level |
- Creation/merger/abolition of sub-national territories
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Who can initiate an optional referendum at the national level? |
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Who drafts the referendum question? |
- Mandatory referendum - Independent electoral commission
- Optional referendum - Registered electors
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Who decides on the final form of the ballot text? |
- Mandatory referendum - Independent electoral commission
- Optional referendum - Independent electoral commission
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Quorum requirements for a referendum to be valid |
- Mandatory referendum - turnout quorum
- Optional referendum - turnout quorum
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Requirements for a referendum to pass |
- Mandatory referendum - simple majority
- Optional referendum - simple majority
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Are referendum results binding? |
- Mandatory referendum - always
- Optional referendum - always
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Question |
Value |
Issues that can be proposed by citizens using the initiative process at the national level |
- Citizens' initiatives - legislative proposals
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Issues excluded from being the subject of an initiative at the national level |
- Taxes and public expenditure commitments
- Any issue that implies diminishing or suppressing human rights or an international treaty already in force
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Who may propose the registration of an initiative? |
- Agenda initiative - a number of individuals
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Materials to accompany an application for registration |
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Who determines the title of an initiative? |
- Agenda initiative - proponents of the initiative
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What disqualifies a proposed title of an initiative? |
- Not specified by legislation
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Who is responsible for checking the legality of initiatives? |
- Not specified by legislation
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At which stage legality check is conducted? |
- Not specified by legislation
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Who decides the final ballot text when the initiative is put to a vote? |
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When does voting take place once an initiative is qualified for ballot? |
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Question |
Value |
Which individuals/positions may be subject to the recall? |
- Members of provincial/local legislature bodies
- Governors, Mayors or equivalent
- Elected judges
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What are the grounds for recall? |
- Not specified by legislation
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What restrictions are there in relation to the time period in which an individual or position can be recalled? |
- Recall cannot be requested during the first or the last year of the term in office of the representative involved
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When is the recall put to the vote? |
- Within a certain time limit
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When does the election to replace an individual who has been recalled take place? |
- Separately and subsequently
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Can an individual who is the subject of a recall stand on the ballot for his/her own replacement? |
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Question |
Value |
How many signatures are required to start the formal decision making stage of a direct democracy mechanism? |
- Referendum - proportion of the electorate
- Agenda Initiative - proportion of the electorate
- Recall - proportion of the electorate
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What is the deadline for collecting required number of signatures? |
- Not specified by legislation
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Restrictions in relation to the individuals who can sign the proposal |
- Referendum - signatories must be registered
- Citizens' Initiative - signatories must be registered
- Agenda Initiative - signatories must be registered
- Recall - signatories must be registered
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Where can proposals be signed? |
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What information must signatories provide when signing the proposal? |
- Identity or voting card number
- Copy of thumbprint
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Restrictions in relation to signature collection |
- Not specified by legislation
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What forms of checks are undertaken to verify signatures? |
- Not specified by legislation
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Who checks the signatures? |
- National Registry of Identification and Civil Status, which is also regarded as an electoral authority
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