Questions: Do you think that there should be a common set of procedural requirements for the collection, verification and authentication of signatures by Member States' authorities at EU level? To what extent should Member States be able to put in place specific provisions at national level? Are specific procedures needed in order to ensure that EU citizens can support a citizens' initiative regardless of their country of residence? Should citizens be able to support a citizens' initiative online? If so, what security and authentication features should be foreseen?
Do you think that there should be a common set of procedural requirements for the collection, verification and authentication of signatures by Member States' authorities at EU level?
To what extent should Member States be able to put in place specific provisions at national level?
Are specific procedures needed in order to ensure that EU citizens can support a citizens' initiative regardless of their country of residence?
Should citizens be able to support a citizens' initiative online? If so, what security and authentication features should be foreseen?
The Commission states the following:
All Member States have procedures and mechanisms for the verification of electors and a large number of them already have verification and authentication procedures for national citizens' initiatives. These verification and authentication procedures vary considerably, however, from one Member State to the other: some Member States have rather strict requirements in place as regards collection procedures. These include for instance requirements that citizens may only sign initiatives in officially designated centers, or that a public official or a notary must be present to authenticate all signatures at the time of collection, or requiring that a certificate of voter registration be issued for each signatory. Other Member States, on the other hand, have lighter systems in place, which do not impose any specific requirements for the collection of signatures but generally require ex-post verification of the signatures collected by the authorities, both in order to check the validity of the signatures and to verify the number of signatures collected.
Specific procedures for expat votes: a system to verify that one citizen has one signature, of course.
Online support: hard to verify and undemocratic when verified with f.e. credit cards, a definite no. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
If eligibility to sign is tied to eligibility to vote in European Parliament elections, it probably means the member states' election authorities should be the ones validating the signatures. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
It doesn't because EU citizenship is defined as being a citizen of one of the member states. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
A passport seems the most universal method of doing this, but then we have to overcome the issue of Brits sans passports and the usual anglo exceptionalism.... notes from no w here
That article also lists a number of other EU countries where identity cards are not compulsory, but since anyone can get one it would be reasonable to require one for authentication.
In the US there is no federal ID requirement. In fact, States issue drivers' licences through their Department of Motor Vehicles. Now, in California if you don't drive you're actually required to obtain a State ID card from the California DMV. So you can assume that any Californian has either a driver's licence or a State ID card.
I don't think the same is true in the UK, though. Because of the inability to assume people had any ID, Banks had really fun (not) procedures for their customers to establishing identity and address... En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
British banks have traditionally hated their customers. They do the weird procedures for fun.
Then the social security card, or passport, or tax card. If you have neither, the ID card remains the only choice of identification. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Within the context of this proposal there are a few topics on which harmonisation is vital, IMO:
