In the event of validation, how will the eventual collection of signatures take place?
Once validated in substance and form by the Constitutional Council, an RIP request must then pass a crucial stage: the collection of signatures.
• How many signatures are needed and when?
A request to organize an RIP must obtain the support of at least 10% of voters, or nearly 4.88 million voters, according to the number of registered voters in 2022. “The duration of the support collection period is nine months”specifies the organic law of 2013 which sets the organizational arrangements for the RIP.
- When will the signature collection period begin?
It is the Ministry of the Interior which is responsible for the implementation of the collection of signatures ” in electronic form”while the harvest period “intervenes in the month following the publication of the decision of the Constitutional Council in Official newspaper ». Harvesting should take place on the platform referendum.interieur.gouv.fralready used in 2019, during the referendum on Aéroports de Paris.
- How to provide your signature?
Each citizen who wishes to support the initiative will have to provide their marital status, their identity card or passport number, their e-mail address and postal address. For people who do not have access to the Internet or wish to be accompanied, the filing of signatures can also be done in certain town halls and consulates. But whatever the method chosen, you must be registered on the electoral lists to be able to be a signatory.
• Will the identity of the signatories be public?
The answer is yes : ” every person “ will therefore be able to consult the list of citizens’ support given to the bill, using a small search engine. However, it will not be possible to download the list or make a copy. This is a point of concern for some citizens, in particular civil servants who are subject to a duty of discretion in the context of their function and who do not wish to be exposed.
• Will it be possible to reverse his signature?
No, the organic law of 2013 is clear: no support filed for a request for RIP “cannot be removed”.
• What will happen if this step is taken?
If the threshold of 10% of voters has been reached within nine months, the Assembly and the Senate will then have six months to examine the bill. If the two chambers decide on the text within the deadline, whether they are for or against, then there will be no RIP. The President of the Republic will only be required to organize a referendum if at least one of the two does not examine it within the time limit.