Code of conduct for Swiss signature collection receives support

Code of conduct for signature collections meets with approval Keystone-SDA

The code of conduct presented by the Federal Chancellery for collecting signatures for initiatives and referendums has met with a positive response. It is intended to put a stop to the forgeries that have become known as "signature scam".

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The responses from the 56 participants in the consultation will now be incorporated into the drafting of the definitive code, the Federal Chancellery said on Thursday. The aim is to establish good practice in the collection of signatures, which was developed at four round tables with Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi.

Almost all cantons as well as political parties, umbrella organisations of municipalities and cities, business associations, initiative committees, collection organisations and other stakeholders responded to the consultation.

According to the Federal Chancellery, the evaluation showed that two-thirds of respondents were in favour of the principle of voluntary and legally non-binding self-regulation. In some cases, approval is linked to adjustments, for example in the role of the authorities, the standards for collection organisations or the distinction between voluntary and paid collection activities.

The dissenting voices denied the need for action and reject a code of conduct in principle. Some called for legal regulations.

+ ‘Signatures scam’ reveals cracks in Swiss system

Code to be finalised by the end of the year

Overall, according to the Federal Chancellery, the consultation shows that a sufficient number of stakeholders are in favour of a code of conduct. The Federal Chancellery is now preparing the final version. It intends to finalise this before the end of the year. Those affected can then sign up to the code.

The code of conduct is one of several measures to combat the “signature scam” phenomenon .

The Federal Chancellery has tightened controls on counting and introduced a monitoring system for municipalities and cantons for ongoing signature collections. It is also working with the scientific community to develop methods to combat fraud. Initiative and referendum committees have received new guidelines.

Initial successes

The Federal Chancellery is examining whether all of this is sufficient from the point of view of the integrity of signature collections and the low-threshold nature of the collections.

According to the information provided, the reports received in the monitoring system since the beginning of 2025 indicate that the measures are working. The Federal Chancellery reserves the right to propose legislative measures to the government if necessary.

To date, the Federal Chancellery has filed four criminal complaints regarding irregularities in the collection of signatures. Criminal proceedings are ongoing. The Federal Chancellery will not provide any further information on this because of official secrecy and in the interests of the investigations.

In the autumn session, the House of Representatives rejected a ban on paid signature collections and is instead relying on the measures taken by the Federal Chancellery.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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