Prague, March 15 (CTK) – Supporters of independent candidates for Czech president will have to add the number of their ID or passport on the nomination petitions, according to an amendment to the election law President Milos Zeman signed on Wednesday.
The change in the rules of the presidential vote is to prevent the repetition of the disputes over the validity of signatures that accompanied the first direct presidential election three years ago.
Like now, the minimum number of the signatures will be 50,000.
Due to the challenged signatures, the Interior Ministry refused to allow some candidates to take part in the election.
The Interior Ministry said the legislation was motivated by the efforts to comply with a demand of the Constitutional Court (US).
The US recommended that the risk of forging the signatures on the petition be minimised and that the verification of their authenticity be regulated.
The passed amendment allows voters to apply for the voter card online and parties to electronically nominate their representatives to constituency election commissions.
It also adjusts time zones for voting abroad so that all of them be covered. In the 2013 presidential election, there was a problem with the switch to the winter time in South America because the law did not count with the time shift.
