site.btaReferendum Petition Signature Threshold Lowered to 400,000

Referendum Petition Signature Threshold Lowered to 400,000

Sofia, July 21 (BTA) - A petition to conduct a national
referendum must be supported by the signatures of at least
400,000 eligible voters in order to be approved by the National
Assembly, the legislature decided on Tuesday, passing amendments
 to the Citizens' Direct Participation in Central Government and
 Local Self-Government Act on second reading.

This implies a reduction of the previous limit of 500,000
signatures.

Parties, coalitions and citizens' initiative committees may
register in favour of the referendum questions or the
alternative stance. When a referendum coincides with a political
 election, the parties' registration for the elections will
entitle them to conduct an awareness campaign for the
referendum, the MPs resolved.

A petition to conduct a local-level referendum must be supported
 by at least one-twentieth of the eligible voters in the
respective municipality, borough or mayoralty in order to be
approved by the Municipal Council, the lawmakers decided.

A proposal subject to a referendum will be considered approved
if at least 40 per cent of eligible voters in the respective
municipality took part in the referendum and if more than half
of the participants gave a "yes" answer.

If a referendum is conducted simultaneously with local
elections, the proposal subject to the referendum will be
considered approved if a "yes" answer was given by more than
half of the people who cast valid votes in the elections.