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Article 116
 

§ 1. For the election to the Chamber of Representatives the presentation shall be signed either by 500 voters at least if the population of the electoral constituency at the last census was superior to one million inhabitants, by 400 voters at least if the population added up to between 500.000 and one million inhabitants and by 200 voters at least in all the other situations, or at least by three resigning members.


§ 2. Abrogated.


§ 3. The presentation is handed over to the chairman of the central electoral committee of the constituency either by one of the three persons the candidates have appointed among the electors mentioned in § 1 or by one of the two candidates appointed by the representing parliamentarians. The chairman acknowledges receipt. The electoral record of the present voters is officially confirmed by the municipality where they are registered through the official seal on the presentation document.


§ 4. The presentation document of the candidates shall indicate the name and the first names as mentioned in the National Register of physical persons, where appropriate the first name certified by an official document from a justice of peace or solicitor under which the voter wishes to present himself, the birthdate, the gender, the profession and the place of residence. The same indications are, where appropriate mentioned on the document of presentation for the present voters. The identity of the candidate – married or widowed can be preceded or followed by the name of the spouse or deceased spouse.


The presentation mentions the acronym or logo that is to head the candidates’ list on the ballot paper. The acronym or logo, the latter being a graphical representation of the name of the list, consists of more than 18 characters. The same acronym or logo may be drafted in only one national language before being translated into a different national language. Or it may be drafted from the beginning in a national language and its translation into a different national language.


The mention of an acronym or logo can, if necessary based on article 21, § 2, third sentence, of the law from 23 March 1989 on the election to the European Parliament, referring to the complementary element having been used by a political alliance represented by at least one parliamentarian in one or the other European, federal, communal or regional parliamentarian assemblies and that has been protected for a previous election for the elections of the Chamber of Representatives, the European Parliament or the communal or regional parliaments may be prohibited by the Interior Minister on a justified request of that alliance. The list of banned acronyms and logos is published in the “Moniteur belge” (Belgian gazette) on the 33th day before the election. From the moment a presentation of candidates has been submitted with the mention of a certain acronym or a logo, the chairman of the central electoral committee of the constituency refuses the use of the same acronym in any other presentation of candidates.


Only the persons authorized through article 119 to verify the presentation documents or the committee may challenge the character of the signatories on the voters’ list of one of the communities in the electoral constituency.


The official document of acceptance of the candidacy consist of a written and signed document that is given to the chairman of the central electoral committee of the constituency within the deadline that is regulated in article 115, first sentence for the deposit of the candidates’ presentation.


§ 5. The candidates who accept their candidature and whose names figure on the same presentation document are considered to form one single list.


In their official document of acceptance, the candidates appoint among the voters having signed their presentation document, three persons they authorize to keep the document of acceptance.


In the same document, they have to approve of the two candidates appointed by the parliamentarians mentioned in § 3 to be able to hand in presentation document.


In the same document they may appoint a witness and a deputy witness to assist the meetings of the central electoral committee as mentioned in articles 119 and 124 and the operations of this committee after the vote as well as a witness and a deputy witness for each of the district electoral committee to assist the meeting mentioned in article 150 and the operations of this committee after the vote.


If the candidates wish to be part of an act defining the affiliation of the lists, they have to declare it in their document of acceptance of their candidature.


No list may contain more candidates than there are members to be elected.


§ 6. In the document of acceptance of their candidature, the incumbent candidates and the substitute candidates commit to:


1° respect the legal dispositions on the limitation and control of the electoral expenditure


2° to hand in against a receipt within 45 days after the election day, the declarations of their electoral expenditure and the origin of the used funds to the chairman of the central electoral committee of the constituency;


3° To keep all the bills and receipts of the electoral expenditure and the origins of the used funds for two years after the election day.


If their declaration on the origins of the funds includes donations, they have to record the identity of the natural persons having made a donation of 125 euros or more to finance the electoral expenditure. They guarantee the confidentiality of that identity and communicate it within 45 days after the elections to the Control Commission that is taking care of this obligation accordingly to article 16bis.


The document of acceptance of their candidature, the declarations on the electoral expenditure and the origins of the funds and the receipt are written on forms designated for this purpose, defined by the Interior Minister and published in useful time in the « Moniteur belge » (Belgian gazette). The forms containing the declaration of the electoral expenditure and the origins of funds as well as the application form mention end in sentence 2 are provided no later than on the delivery of the official document of acceptance.


These forms are signed, dated and handed over to the applicant against receipt. 


After the consultation of a decree in the Council of Ministers, the King determines the modalities of the deposit of the declarations on the election expenditures and the origin of the used funds as well as on their inventory and their safekeeping.