Facts
The case concerns an administrative court appeal by Erwin Kessler against a ruling by the Federal Chancellery in connection with the federal popular initiative "against fur imports". Kessler requested that the Federal Chancellery be instructed to have the responsible municipalities remedy defective voting right certificates on signature forms for popular initiatives.
The Federal Chancellery had rejected Kessler's request for a blanket assurance that no signatures would be declared invalid due to defects in the voting right certificates. However, it declared its willingness to draw the attention of the errant municipalities to problems with the voting right certificates and to invite them to remedy the defects, provided that the initiative committee submitted precise information on the matter.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal, insofar as it can be considered. It states that the procurement of the voting right certificates in accordance with the Federal Act on Political Rights (BPR) is the responsibility of the initiators and that the Federal Chancellery has no possibility to have defective certificates remedied during the collection period.
Subsequent remediation of certificate defects, as was previously possible, has been excluded since the legislative revision of 1996. The initiative committees…