Digital signature for referendums: what happened to the platform?

Digital signature for referendums

Although the platform for the digital signature of referendum proposals and popular initiative laws has been ready for months, as a result of an implementing decree signed by the Draghi government, the executive led by Giorgia Meloni has left this tool of democracy on the back burner. To date, in fact, the platform site is not yet accessible because it is "in the test phase", but the government has not received any signs of interest in unblocking this situation.

It had taken more than a year to finally reach the goal of the implementing decree and the implementation of the portal by Sogei, the IT company of the Ministry of Economy. A result achieved thanks to the commitment of the Luca Coscioni Association and Marco Cappato, who fought to obtain the official recognition of digital signatures for the referendums and for the creation of an institutional platform.

In fact, in the case of the referendum proposals on the end of life and legalization of cannabis, the promoters have shouldered all the management costs of the platforms used for the collection of digital signatures and, due to the rejection of the questions by the Constitutional Court, these costs have not been reimbursed .

On the contrary, the possibility of making use of the institutions of the referendum and of popular initiative laws should be guaranteed free of charge and completely accessible to all by the state. And the executive should actively work to eliminate all discrimination of an economic and participatory nature, which prevent citizens from exercising their democratic rights.

However, since the Meloni government took office, no member of the majority has even remotely mentioned the issue of activating the platform. This disinterest has not gone unnoticed by the Luca Coscioni Association, which has already collected more than 50,000 signatures to make a public appeal to the Meloni government and break its silence on the subject. At the same time, on 7 March, together with the Eumans movement and other realities of civil society, the Association called a gathering in Rome, in Piazza Santi Apostoli, starting from 4 pm.

“Every serious human activity it takes place more and more also on the Net, as well as in person; denying the possibility of exercising participation rights also through digital tools ends up marginalizing democracy itself; the platform is technically ready: now we need political will” declared Marco Cappato and Lorenzo Mineo, coordinator of the campaign.