Summary
Voters should be allowed to sign ballot qualification petitions for more than one candidate or party.
Election Parts
Issues
Quotes
- Registered voters, or citizens more generally, should be allowed to sign ballot qualification petitions of more than one party and candidate, so that citizens are free to demonstrate their support for a system of political pluralism and are free from circumstances that could become politically coercive by being called upon to demonstrate support for just one party or candidate.
- A requirement that voters may only sign in support of one candidate or party may also be problematic. In such instances, a candidate who has collected in good faith the required number of signatures may be disqualified through no fault of his or her own because voters have signed more than one petition. In a worst case, voters may deliberately sign more than one petition in order to try to disqualify a candidate.
- The system for the verification of signatures should be clearly defined in law and not overly technical, so as to avoid the possibility of abuse. In particular, a requirement that a citizen be allowed to sign in support of only one party should be avoided, as such a regulation would affect his/her right to freedom of association and could easily disqualify parties despite their attempts in good faith to fulfil this requirement.