Candidates proposed by voters for elections for the Assembly

(amended by Law No. 74/2012, dated 19 July 2012)

1. A group of voters in one electoral zone shall have the right to propose, for that electoral zone, a candidate who meets the criteria provided for in Article 45 of the Constitution and Article 63 of this Code, no later than 50 days before the election date.

2. A candidate proposed by a group of voters may not be part of any party or coalition that is running in the elections, nor can they openly or indirectly support any other subject or candidate running in the elections.

3. For the presentation of a candidate by the voters, an initiating committee shall be established, which shall be composed of no fewer than 9 voters from the respective electoral zone, who are tasked with organising the work for gathering the supporting signatures for the candidate in accordance with this Code. No later than 70 days before the election date, the initiating committee shall register with the CEC and submit the names of the committee members. The committee may register a candidate for deputy only if it has gathered support for the candidate from no less than 1 percent of the voters registered in the list of that electoral zone, but in any case, no more than 3,000 voters, in accordance with the procedures provided for in this Code.

4. The candidates proposed by the voters shall be exempted from the obligation envisaged in point 3 of this Article if they are deputies. In this case, the candidate shall submit a written attestation signed by the Assembly, certifying the possession of the seat for at least the last 6 months.