1 After expiry of the referendum period, the Federal Chancellery shall establish whether the request for the referendum has been submitted by the required number of cantons.2
2 A request for a referendum is declared invalid if:
it has not been decided on and submitted to the Federal Chancellery within the referendum period;
it has been decided on by a public body that is not competent to do so;
it is impossible to identify with any certainty the federal enactment in respect of which the popular vote is being requested.
3 The Federal Chancellery shall provide written notification of the ruling on the success or failure of the request for a referendum by the cantons to the governments of all those cantons that have requested the referendum, and shall publish the ruling in the Federal Gazette, giving details of the number of valid and invalid cantonal requests for a referendum.
1 Inserted by No I of the Federal Act of 21 June 1996, in force since 1 April 1997 (AS 1997 753; BBl 1993 III 445). 2 Amended by No I of the Federal Act of 21 June 2002, in force since 1 Jan. 2003 (AS 2002 3193; BBl 2001 6401).
