MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –
Source: Switzerland – Federal Chancellery
Federal ChancelleryBern, 25.09.2024 – The Federal Chancellery has today filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland on suspicion of electoral fraud. The evidence included in the complaint indicates that the signatures declared invalid by the authorities may have been forged. The Federal Chancellery had already filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons in 2022 for suspected forgery of signatures collected for popular initiatives. This complaint was supplemented twice with new evidence; in this case, the reports came from a single canton. Today’s criminal complaint, however, includes suspicious cases that were observed in various cantons this year and for which it is assumed that different perpetrators were involved. The criminal complaint includes suspicious cases that the Federal Chancellery came across when checking the lists and counting the signatures. As part of the in-depth checks that have been carried out since 2022, the Federal Chancellery also takes into account signatures that municipalities have already declared invalid. In this way, it was able to identify anomalies that suggest forgery, such as different handwritings in the case of multiple signatures from the same person. The complaint groups together fifteen reports of forgery brought to the attention of the Federal Chancellery by municipalities and cantons and, in one case, by a private individual. Some of these reports concern individual signatures, but most concern a double-digit number of signatures. In total, it involves around 950 suspected forged signatures from six cantons and collected for five different popular initiatives. In addition to the aforementioned different handwritings in the case of multiple signatures from the same person, the most common reasons for suspected forgery and invalidation are incorrect dates of birth, misspelled names, incorrect or non-existent addresses, and lists of signatures that do not meet the legal requirements. In view of the ongoing proceedings, the Federal Chancellery is not providing further details on the complaint. In recent weeks, new cases involving abusive methods of collecting signatures have been discovered. Since then, the Federal Chancellery has been using all available means to protect the integrity of the signature collection process. In addition to reporting suspicious cases for criminal prosecution, it is focusing on prevention and improving processes. The Federal Chancellor will soon convene a permanent round table to ensure that signature providers and buyers commit to transparency and conduct rules to prevent forgery. More detailed monitoring of the signature collection and control processes is currently being implemented. The Federal Chancellery has also contacted the scientific community to explore technical solutions to protect the signature collection process from abuse and fraud. Address for enquiriesUrs BrudererHead of the Communications Section058 483 99 69urs.bruderer@bk.admin.chPublished byFederal Chancelleryhttps://www.bk.admin.ch/bk/it/home.html
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.