Household registration offices islandwide have been working overtime to
review the millions of signatures for referendum petitions.

According to the Referendum Act, supporters of a referendum have to sign
their names personally, but the names, birth dates and household registration
addresses can be written by other people.

But the Central Election Commission said earlier this month that it found
signs of irregularities, including cases in which multiple signatures were
signed using the same color ink or handwriting.

In one or two cases, hundreds of signatures of different names look like they
were signed by the same person.

The C-E-C says these signatures would be deemed invalid and eliminated, and
the household registration offices nationwide are responsible for making the
call.

The C-E-C has received 10 referendum petitions so far, and each has to meet
the requirement of having 280-thousand signatures before they can be voted
upon along with the November elections.

(JL)