Electoral Code of the Republic of Albania (2003, as amended 2005) (excerpts related to referendum) (English)
REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
THE ASSEMBLY
LAW
No 9087, dated 19.6.2003 amended by the law nr. 9297 dated 21.10.2004 and by the law no. 9341, dated 10.1.2005
THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
Article 1
Purpose of this Code
The purpose of this Code is the specification of rules:
a) for voting in elections to the Assembly, to organs of local government and in a referendum;
e) for the organization and validity of referenda;
Article 2
Definitions
For purposes of this Code:
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19. A “constitutional referendum” is a referendum held pursuant to section 4 or 5 of article 177 of the Constitution.
20. A “general referendum” is a referendum held pursuant to articles 150, 151 and 152 of the Constitution.
21. A “local referendum” is a referendum held pursuant to section 4 of article 108 of the Constitution.
30. “Elections” are the voting for the Assembly, for representative organs of local government or in a referendum.
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Article 99
Number of ballot boxes
1. In elections for the Assembly, two ballot boxes are set up in the voting centre: one for the candidate for deputy in the single-member zones and one for the political parties and/or electoral coalitions.
2. In elections for local government organs, two ballot boxes are set up in the voting centre: one for the candidates for mayor of a municipality or commune and one for candidates to the municipal or communal councils.
In local elections for the capital, four ballot boxes are set up in the voting centre: one for candidates for mayor of Tirana municipality, one for the candidates for mayor of municipal units, one for candidates for the Tirana Municipal Council and one for candidates for borough councils.
3. In voting in a referendum, one ballot box is used for each issue upon which there is a vote.
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PART NINE
REFERENDA
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 118
Meaning of Referendum
1. A referendum is the direct exercise of popular sovereignty, through voting, for a specific issue or law, according to articles 108 section 4, 150, 151, 152 and 177 of the Constitution.
2. Voting on a referendum is performed according to the rules contemplated in this Code.
3. In a referendum, the alternative that has won the majority of the valid votes, but not less than one third of the number of voters registered in the National Registry of Voters, is considered the winner, unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
Article 119
Restrictions on the Exercise of the Right to a Referendum
1. No constitutional or general referendum can be held on the date of elections for the Assembly or for the organs of local government.
2. No general or constitutional referendum can be held during the period between six months before the end of the mandate of an Assembly and three months after the first meeting of the new Assembly.
3. No local referendum can be held during the period between three months before the end of the mandate of the organs of local government and three months after the first meeting of the local councils.
4. When early elections for the Assembly are announced, the procedure for holding a general referendum is suspended until three months after the first meeting of the new Assembly.
5. When early local elections are announced in a local government unit, the procedure for holding a local referendum in that unit is suspended until three months after the beginning of the mandate of the local government organ.
6. In accordance with section 3 of article 152 of the Constitution, requests for a referendum that have not been fully processed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter by March 15 of the year, regardless of when made, are deferred until the following year.
Article 120
Procedures for the Conduct of Referenda
1. Constitutional and general referenda are administered by the CEC through the ZECs and, to the extent necessary or appropriate, in accordance with the procedures stipulated in this Code for the conduct of elections to the Assembly.
2. Local referenda are administered by the CEC through the LGECs and, to the extent necessary or appropriate, in accordance with the procedures stipulated in this Code for the conduct of local elections.
3. For referenda at the regional level, the CEC creates a regional election commission. The members of this commission are proposed by the Regional Council according to the rules contemplated in this Code for the composition of an LGEC.
4. When more than one referendum is held on the same date, the ballots for each referendum are of different colors.
Article 121
Approval of Draft Laws Voted on in Referenda
1. A draft law approved by referendum is promulgated by the President of the Republic and enters into force at least 15 days after publication in the Official Journal.
2. The repeal of a law or part of a law by referendum enters into force immediately upon the declaration of the result. On the reasoned request of the Council of Ministers, the Assembly may decide to postpone the repeal of the law or the part repealed, but not for more than 60 days.
CHAPTER II
SPECIFIC TYPES OF REFERENDA
SECTION 1
CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM
Article 122
Types of Constitutional Referenda
A constitutional referendum, in accordance with section 4 of article 177 of the Constitution, is conducted by a decision of two-thirds of all members of the Assembly that a proposed constitutional amendments be decided by direct popular vote. A constitutional referendum, in accordance with section 5 of article 177 of the Constitution, is one requested by one-fifth of the members of the Assembly to submit to popular vote a constitutional amendment approved by not less than two-thirds of all members of the Assembly.
Article 123
Initial Procedures
1. Requests for a constitutional referendum to amend the Constitution contain the text of the draft law for the amendment to the Constitution.
2. Requests for a referendum in accordance with section 5 of article 177 of the Constitution are delivered to the General Secretary of the Assembly within 15 days of the approval of the constitutional amendment by the Assembly.
3. The General Secretary of the Assembly immediately sends the decision of the Assembly (or the request of one-fifth of the deputies, as the case may be) requesting a constitutional referendum to the Constitutional Court and the President of the Republic.
Article 124
Preliminary Examination by the Constitutional Court
Within 60 days of receipt of the request, the Constitutional Court examines in advance the constitutionality of holding the constitutional referendum initiated according to section 4 or 5 of article 177 of the Constitution.
Article 125
Subsequent Procedures for a Constitutional Referendum
1. When the Constitutional Court decides that the request for a constitutional referendum is in compliance with the Constitution or does not issue a decision within the time limit, the President of the Republic sets the date for holding the referendum in compliance with section 3 of article 152 of the Constitution.
2. In this case, the General Secretary of the Assembly notifies the CEC of the conduct of a constitutional referendum, and sends to it the text of the draft law that will be voted on in the referendum. The General Secretary of the Assembly publishes the text of the draft law that will be voted on in the referendum in the three newspapers with the largest national circulation.
3. If the Constitutional Court decides that the request for the constitutional referendum is not consistent with the Constitution, the procedure for holding the referendum ceases. In the case of a request pursuant to section 5 of article 177 of the Constitution, the constitutional amendments previously approved by the Assembly are promulgated by the President of the Republic and become effective at least 15 days after their publication in the Official Journal.
4. Constitutional amendments submitted to referendum according to section 5 of article 177 of the Constitution are rejected if more than half of all voters registered in the National Registry of Voters vote against them. If the amendments are not rejected in the referendum, they are promulgated by the President of the Republic and become effective at least 15 days after their publication in the Official Journal.
SECTION 2
GENERAL REFERENDUM
Article 126
Initiative for a General Referendum
1. Fifty thousand voters registered in the National Registry of Voters have the right to a general referendum for the repeal of a law, or to request the President of the Republic to call a referendum on a matter of special importance, in compliance with section 1 of article 150 of the Constitution and the provisions of this Code.
2. A request to begin the procedures for a referendum is submitted to the CEC by a group of no fewer than 12 initiators who are voters registered in the National Registry of Voters.
3. A request to repeal part of a law may be made, but only if the remainder of the law is self-sufficient.
4. A request to begin the procedures for a referendum for the repeal of a law or part of a law contains:
a) the title, number and date of approval of the law that is sought to be repealed and, if only part of the law is sought to be repealed, the respective provisions; and
b) the reasons why the law or the particular provisions should be repealed.
5. A request to begin the procedures for a referendum on an issue of special importance describes clearly the issue set out, its importance and the position of the initiators in connection with the issue. The issue must be stated in a clear, complete, and unequivocal manner, and expressed in such a form that voters can answer "Yes" or "No."
Article 127
Model Forms for Collecting Signatures
1. Within 20 days of the submission of the request for a general referendum, the CEC provides the initiators, for payment, with forms for the collection of the signatures of 50,000 voters registered in the National Registry of Voters at the time of submission of the request. At the head of the form, the title of the law, the provisions sought to be repealed or the issue raised is printed.
2. Signatures in support of the request to hold a general referendum are deposited with the CEC during the period from 1 January to 30 November of each year.
Article 128
Verification of the Request by the CEC
1. The CEC verifies signatures and validity of voters’ identification documents in accordance with sub-statutory acts issued by it.
2. The CEC decides whether to accept the request within 90 days from the day it is submitted, based only on the regularity of the submitted documentation. The decision is made known immediately to the interested persons. A decision not to accept the request must set out clearly the irregularities that led to non-acceptance.
3. Within five days from notification of the decision, the initiating group may declare to the CEC that it is ready to correct the irregularities that were found. In this case, the CEC sets a term of up to 30 days for the re-submission of the request. The CEC decides within 10 days whether to accept the re-submitted request and immediately notifies the initiators.
Article 129
Examination of the Request by the Constitutional Court
1. After determining that the requests are in order, the CEC brings the requests for a general referendum to the President of the Republic and the Constitutional Court, except for the cases contemplated in article 119 of this Code. At the same time, the CEC notifies the Speaker of the Assembly and the Prime Minister of the requests accepted.
2. The Constitutional Court decides on the constitutionality of the requests for a general referendum and whether they are formulated in accordance with sections 3 and 5 of article 126 within 60 days from the day of receipt of the requests from the CEC.
3. The President of the Republic decides whether or not to hold referenda on issues of special importance after the promulgation of a positive decision of the Constitutional Court or after the passage of the time period during which it should have issued the decision. If he decides that a referendum requested should not be held, he advises the CEC in writing of his reasons, which the CEC transmits to the initiators.
Article 130
Setting the Date for a General Referendum
The President of the Republic sets the voting date for general referenda in accordance with section 3 of article 152 of the Constitution.
Article 131
Referenda on the Initiative of the Assembly
When the Assembly decides on the holding of general referenda in accordance with section 2 of article 150 of the Constitution, the same procedures provided in this section for referenda in accordance with section 1 of article 150 of the Constitution are followed, to the extent necessary or possible.
SECTION 3
LOCAL REFERENDA
Article 132
Initiative for a Local Referendum
1. Ten percent of the voters registered on the voter list of a municipality, or 20,000 of them, whichever number is smaller, have the right to a local referendum on an issue of local governance in the respective municipality or commune.
2. A number of municipal or communal councils that represent no less than one-third of the population of a region have the right to request that a referendum be held on an issue of local governance at the regional level.
3. A referendum on the same issue cannot be repeated in the same unit of local government before three years have passed.
4. For holding a local referendum, the provisions contemplated for a general referendum in sections 2 and 5 of article 126, article 127 and section 2 of article 128 of this Code are applied, to the extent possible or necessary.
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