Act concerning Initiatives and Referendums (IRG) - Formulated Initiatives (IRG)

1. Formulated initiatives shall contain a detailed text of a constitution, law, or resolution.

2. If they intend to repeal or amend existing law, they must specify the relevant enactment or resolution as well as the affected paragraph(s).

1. If initiatives do not meet the requirements according to § 1, they are considered to be unformulated.

2. Unformulated initiatives must outline the content and purpose of the request.

1. The number of eligible voters prescribed in § 47 paragraph 1 of the Constitution is entitled to submit a formulated or an unformulated initiative.

1. A municipal community is entitled to decide on a formulated or unformulated initiative in accordance with § 66 paragraph 1 of the Constitution.

2. The municipal initiative is to be submitted to the State Chancellery for the attention of the Grand Council.

3. A review procedure in accordance with §§ 9-11 of this law does not take place.

1. When an initiative is opened for signature, the signature list (sheet, page, card) must contain the following information

a) the political municipality in which the signatories are entitled to vote;

b) the wording of the initiative and the date of publication in the Cantonal Gazette;

c) an unconditional withdrawal clause;

d) the notice that anyone who falsifies the result of a signature collection for an initiative is committing an offense (Art. 282 of the Swiss Penal Code);

e) the names of at least seven members as well as a contact address of the initiative committee. Furthermore, the initiative committee must deposit the addresses of at least seven members with the State Chancellery.

1. The list of signatures must be submitted to the State Chancellery before the commencement of the signature collection. The State Chancellery shall determine through an order whether the list of signatures complies with the statutory form requirements.

2. If the title of the initiative is obviously misleading, contains commercial or personal advertising, or is likely to cause confusion, the State Chancellery shall, after consulting the initiative committee, order its amendment.

3. The title and text of the initiative, as well as the contact address of the initiative committee, shall be published in the Cantonal Gazette.

4. Initiative committees may seek legal advice on drafting an initiative from the office designated by the Government Council. This advice does not bind either the initiative committee or the Government Council and the Grand Council.

1. Eligible voters must inscribe their surname and first name in handwriting, clearly legible, and provide their personal signature on the signature list.

1bis Eligible voters who are unable to write may have their name entered by an eligible person of their choice. This person must sign their own signature next to the name of the non-writing individual and maintain confidentiality regarding the contents of the instructions received.

2. They must simultaneously provide the day, month, and year of their birth, as well as their address.

3. They may only sign the same initiative once.

1. The Government Council may promote experiments for signing initiatives and referenda electronically. It approves these on the condition that all effective and appropriate measures are taken to ensure the verification of voting eligibility, the secrecy of the vote, and the correct attribution of all signatures, and to eliminate the risk of targeted or systematic abuse.

1. The signature lists of an initiative must be submitted to the State Chancellery for the attention of the Grand Council as a whole and within the deadline mentioned in § 47 paragraph 4 of the Constitution from the date of their publication in the Cantonal Gazette.

2. Submitted signature lists will not be returned and cannot be inspected.

1. The State Chancellery shall have the voting eligibility of the signatories certified by the competent authority of their municipality of residence.

2. Signed initiative sheets may be submitted to the competent authority of the municipality of residence for verification of voting eligibility before the initiative is officially submitted.

3. The competent authority certifies that the signatories are eligible to vote in the municipality designated on the signature list, and returns the lists to the State Chancellery or the initiative committee.

4. The certification must specify the number of certified signatures in words or figures; it must be dated, bear the handwritten signature of the official, and indicate their official capacity through a stamp or annotation.

5. The voting eligibility of the signatories can be collectively certified for several lists.

1. A signature is invalid if the requirements of §§ 3 and 5 are not met.

2. If an eligible voter has signed more than once, only one signature will be certified.

3. The reason for refusal must be stated on the signature list.

1. The State Chancellery determines, based on the voting certificates, whether the initiative has the required number of valid signatures.

2. The State Chancellery has deficiencies in the certification rectified by the competent authority, provided that the realization of the initiative depends on it.

1. After the submission of the signature lists or after the expiration of the period specified in § 47 paragraph 4 of the Constitution, the State Chancellery shall determine, by an order published in the Cantonal Gazette, whether the initiative has been successfully established.

1. Appeals against decisions of the State Chancellery under Sections 4 and 10 can be filed with the Administrative Court according to the provisions of the Administrative Justice Act.

2. Only the majority of the initiative committee is entitled to appeal against decisions under Section 4. Any eligible voter is entitled to appeal against decisions under Section 10.

1. Any initiative may be withdrawn by the majority of the members of the initiating committee who are eligible to vote at the time of the declaration of withdrawal.

2. The authority that has adopted a municipal initiative may withdraw it, provided it has not authorized the municipal council to make the withdrawal.

3. Withdrawal is no longer possible once the government council has published the date for the referendum on the final proposal.

1. Once the initiation of an initiative has been confirmed, the State Chancellery forwards it to the Government Council. The Government Council submits a proposal to the Grand Council within three months to declare the initiative admissible or inadmissible.

1. The initiative is admissible if it complies with higher-ranking law, addresses only one subject matter, and does not demand something impossible.

1. The Grand Council decides on the legal admissibility of an initiative.

2. The decision is to be published in the Official Gazette. It is exempt from the optional referendum.

1. The decision of the Grand Council on the admissibility or inadmissibility of an initiative can be appealed to the Constitutional Court.

2. Any person entitled to vote, and in the case of a municipal initiative, also the relevant municipality, is authorized to file an appeal.

1. Any person lodging a complaint must file the complaint in writing with the Constitutional Court within 10 days from the publication of the decision of the Grand Council in the Cantonal Gazette. Within 30 days, calculated from the same point in time, a written justification must be submitted, which must include the motions, the statement of facts and evidence, and a brief legal discussion.

2. The President of the Constitutional Court decides on any further exchange of writings.

3. In other respects, §§ 21-30 of the Administrative Justice Act apply accordingly to the procedure.

4. The Constitutional Court publishes the operative part of its judgment, indicating the title of the initiative, in the Cantonal Gazette. Procedural and cost decisions are not published.

1. If the Grand Council, based on § 91 paragraph 1 letter g of the Constitution, submits the decision regarding the legal admissibility of an initiative to the Constitutional Court, it shall present the application submitted by the Government Council in accordance with § 13 of this law to the Court.

2. The Constitutional Court shall give the initiative committee of the popular initiative or the municipal community from which the municipal initiative originates an opportunity to express their views in writing on the legal admissibility of the initiative.

3. The Constitutional Court shall decide without a hearing. It shall publish its decision in accordance with § 17 paragraph 4 of this law.

1. If the Grand Council decides that the initiative is legally admissible, it shall also decide on the further procedure in the same session.

2. If the legal admissibility of the initiative is determined by a court pursuant to § 16 or § 17a, the Grand Council shall decide on the further procedure at its next ordinary session following the finality of the judgment.

3. In doing so, the Grand Council decides to either

a) submit the initiative directly to the people without recommendation and not with a counter-proposal, or

b) refer it to the Executive Council or a Grand Council commission for reporting purposes.

1. In the event of a referral to the Council of State or to a Grand Council commission, they must report in writing on the initiative within six months of the referral. They may accompany their report on an unformulated initiative with a draft prepared by them.

2. After the six-month period has expired, the initiative returns to the Grand Council, and it is further processed, even if the report is missing.

1. If the initiative is formulated pursuant to § 1, the Grand Council shall decide, based on the report, whether to present the initiative to the people with a recommendation for acceptance or rejection and whether it wants to propose a counterproposal.

2. In the case of a formulated initiative, only obvious editorial errors in the text may be corrected, and materially indispensable additions may be made.

3. Only a formulated counterproposal may be set against a formulated initiative.

1. If the initiative is unformulated within the meaning of § 2, the Grand Council shall decide, based on the report, whether it wishes to formulate it or not.

2. If it decides to formulate it, it shall resolve a draft that fulfills the concerns of the initiative. This draft shall be submitted to the electorate for a definitive decision. If the initiative is withdrawn, the draft shall be subject to an optional referendum, unless it involves an amendment to the cantonal constitution.

3. If it decides not to formulate it, the initiative shall be submitted to the electorate for decision. The Grand Council may present either an unformulated or a formulated counter-proposal alongside it.

1. If the electorate adopts an unformulated initiative or an unformulated counterproposal in the referendum, the Grand Council shall promptly draft a proposal that fulfills the concerns raised.

2. The Grand Council may present a formulated counterproposal against the proposal that fulfills the concerns of the unformulated initiative.

3. The Grand Council may assign either the Government Council or a commission of the Grand Council to draft a proposal. They must report in writing within one year.

4. The proposal and, if applicable, the counterproposal shall be submitted to the electorate for final decision. If the initiative is withdrawn, the proposal is subject to an optional referendum. If there is a counterproposal and the initiative is withdrawn, the proposal lapses, and the counterproposal is subject to an optional referendum. Amendments to the cantonal constitution are subject to a mandatory referendum in every case.

1. A draft prepared by the Grand Council pursuant to § 21 paragraph 2 sentence 1 or pursuant to § 22 paragraph 1 may be contested before the Constitutional Court by complaint due to disregard of the content and purpose of the unformulated initiative.

2. Any eligible voter and, in the case of a municipal initiative, the respective local municipality is entitled to file the complaint.

3. The complaint procedure is governed by the provisions of § 17 of this law.

1. The Grand Council determines whether the proposal that meets the concerns of an unformulated initiative will be enacted at the level of the constitution, the law, or the resolution.

1. If the initiative requires a total revision of the cantonal constitution, the Grand Council must submit the question of whether such a revision should be undertaken to the people, with or without a recommendation to accept or reject it.

2. A counterproposal is excluded.

1. Formulated initiatives must be submitted to the eligible voters for a vote within 18 months from the date of the final decision on the validity of the initiative. If the Great Council decides to present a counterproposal to the initiative, this period is extended by six months.

2. If the Great Council decides not to formulate an unformulated initiative, it must be submitted to the eligible voters for a vote within 18 months from the date of the final decision on the validity of the initiative. If the voters have approved the initiative or the Great Council has decided to formulate the initiative, the proposal to be drafted by the Great Council must be submitted to the eligible voters for a vote within three years from the date of the final decision on the validity of the initiative.

3. During the duration of a judicial procedure concerning the legal admissibility of an initiative, the deadlines for holding the popular vote are suspended.

4. The Great Council may, with the consent of the initiative committee, order an extension or suspension of the deadlines for holding the popular vote. The decision of the Great Council is final.

1. The Executive Council and the Grand Council shall take appropriate measures to ensure the observance of the deadlines for conducting the referendum.

2. If no definitive decision by the Grand Council is made regarding the subject of an initiative within the time limits specified by law for conducting the referendum, the Executive Council shall order the referendum.

1. If several initiatives concerning the same subject matter have been submitted, the initiative that was submitted first must be addressed by the Grand Council first and presented to the voters for a decision.

2. The other initiatives must be addressed in the order of their receipt and presented to the voters for a decision. In such cases, the deadlines for holding the referendum commence at the earliest one year after the referendum on the last initiative has been conducted. If the Grand Council decides to propose a counter-proposal to a formulated initiative, this deadline is extended by one year.

3. If the initiatives are appropriate for this purpose and it is expected that the intention of the Grand Council and the will of the people can thereby be better expressed, the Grand Council may treat several initiatives concerning the same subject matter simultaneously and present them to the public for a decision simultaneously with or without a counter-proposal. The Grand Council determines the voting questions to be submitted to the voters in such a manner that all eligible voters can answer all questions without restriction. In the event that several mutually exclusive initiatives are accepted, the one preferred by the majority of the voters is determined through supplementary questions. The provisions concerning the vote on initiatives and counter-proposals are to be applied accordingly.

1. Upon the conclusion of the initiative's consideration by the Grand Council, the initiative and, if applicable, a counterproposal shall be published in the Canton Gazette, and the date for the popular vote shall be set by the Government Council.

2. ...

1. If the Grand Council proposes a counter-proposal to an initiative, the eligible voters will be presented with three questions on the same ballot paper. The voters can declare without restriction

a) whether they prefer the initiative to the existing law;

b) whether they prefer the counter-proposal to the existing law;

c) which of the two proposals they prefer, should both proposals be accepted.

2. The absolute majority is determined separately for each question. Unanswered questions are disregarded in determining the absolute majority.

3. If both the initiative and the counter-proposal are accepted, the result of the third question decides.

1. The draft prepared by the Constitutional Council may be submitted to the voters in the following ways

a) a unified vote on the entire draft;

b) simultaneous voting separated by constitutional sections (e.g., by chapters);

c) staggered voting over individual constitutional sections.

1. If, in a vote conducted separately on parts of the constitution, individual parts are rejected by the eligible voters, the Constitutional Council shall draft a second proposal for these parts and submit it to the eligible voters.

2. The Constitutional Council shall determine the date of entry into force of the accepted parts of the constitution.

3. If parts of the constitution are rejected a second time by the eligible voters, the revision for these parts shall be considered as failed.

4. For each part of the constitution, it must be explicitly stated which provisions of the current constitution are to be repealed.

1. If a part of the constitution is rejected by the electorate in a staggered vote, the Constitutional Council shall decide whether the remaining parts of the draft should first be presented to the electorate or if a second draft should be drawn up.

1. Laws and decisions of the Grand Council that are subject to the optional referendum are published in the Cantonal Gazette with a reference to the possibility of a referendum and the date of the expiration of the referendum deadline.

2. The referendum deadline is 42 days, counted from the day following the publication in the Cantonal Gazette.

1. If a referendum is initiated, the signature list (sheet, leaf, card) must contain the following information

a) the political municipality in which the signatories are eligible to vote;

b) the designation of the law or resolution of the Grand Council with the date of its adoption by the Grand Council;

c) a notice that anyone who falsifies the outcome of a signature collection for a referendum commits a criminal offense (Art. 282 of the Swiss Criminal Code).

1. The provisions set forth for the initiative concerning signature (§ 5), electronic signing of initiatives and referendums (§ 5a), voting right certification (§ 7 para. 1, 3-5), refusal of voting right certification (§ 8), and rectification of certification defects (§ 9 para. 2) apply mutatis mutandis to the referendum as well.

1. The signature lists of a referendum must be submitted to the State Chancellery within the referendum deadline without verification.

2. Submitted signature lists will not be returned and cannot be inspected.

1. The State Chancellery ascertains, based on the voting certificates, whether the referendum possesses the required number of valid signatures.

1. The State Chancellery issues an order regarding the establishment of the referendum and publishes it in the Cantonal Gazette.

2. If no referendum request is submitted within the deadline or if the referendum request has not come into effect, the State Chancellery declares the corresponding enactment legally binding in an order to be published in the Cantonal Gazette.

3. Any person eligible to vote may lodge an appeal against orders of the State Chancellery with the Administrative Court, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Administrative Justice.

1. The Withdrawal of a Referendum is not Permissible.

1. If the referendum has come about, the date of the popular vote is to be set by the government council.

2. The popular vote must be conducted no later than one year after the resolution by the Grand Council. This also applies if the referendum is mandatory or decided by the Grand Council.

1

a) The law concerning the election and organization of courts and judicial offices of June 27, 1895, is amended as follows

b) The law on the rules of procedure of the Grand Council of March 24, 1988, is amended as follows

c) The law concerning the procedure for the exercise of the initiative and the cantonal referendum of November 16, 1875, is repealed.

d) The Municipal Law of October 17, 1984, is amended as follows

1. This law applies to all initiatives and referenda that are presented for signature after its enactment.

2. Sections 13-17 additionally apply to all initiatives on whose validity the Grand Council has not yet decided at the time of the enactment of this law.

3. Sections 18-28 additionally apply to all initiatives whose consideration by the Grand Council has not yet been completed at the time of the enactment of this law. The processing deadlines pursuant to Section 25 expire for all initiatives submitted before the entry into force of this law at the earliest two years after this date. The decisive factor for the commencement of the processing deadline for these initiatives is the date of referral to the Executive Council or to a Grand Council commission.

1. This Act shall be published upon the entry into force of the amendments dated January 16, 1991, to §§ 28, 39, and 53-56 of the Constitution of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. It is subject to a referendum and shall become effective upon the attainment of its legal validity. Should the amendments to §§ 39 and 53-56 of the Cantonal Constitution not become legally binding, this Act shall lapse.