Referendum Petitions Will Require Specifying Date of Birth as of June

Bratislava, 1 June (TASR) - When signing a petition to call a referendum, date of birth will now be required as a measure to prevent the potential abuse of petition rights, according to an amendment to the Act on the Conditions for the Exercise of Voting Rights which entered into force on Monday. "A successful petition results in the calling of a nationwide referendum," explained the sponsors of the new legislation, adding that the main reason for the change is that a successful referendum has the legal force of a constitutional law. "The consequences of a petition through which citizens request a referendum to be called are therefore far more serious than the consequences of a 'regular' petition under the Petitions Act," they added. Until now, such petitions could be supported by providing only the first name, surname and permanent residence address, i.e. data that can easily be obtained from publicly available sources, such as land register. "These details can therefore be misused and entered into a petition even without one's knowledge," they explained. The draft originally envisaged adding the birth number; however, due to high sensitivity of this personal identification number, the sponsors chose the date of birth, which still allows to sufficiently verify data through the register of natural persons. jrg