Brexit Referendum Re-Run Petition Has No Legal Authority - Commission

The United Kingdom's Electoral Commission has told Sputnik that the petition to have a re-run of the referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union has no legal authority.

© REUTERS/ Peter Nicholls

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The petition — which had garnered more than 3.7 million signatures by Monday (June 27) — calls "upon HM Government to implement a rule that, if the Remain or Leave vote is less than 60 percent based on a turnout less than 75 percent, there should be another referendum." 

The petition was originally started by a campaigner for the Leave group, William Oliver Healey, in May, when it appeared that the Remain group was leading the polls. However, he has said it has now been hijacked by the Remain group, unhappy at the outcome.

Sputnik asked the Electoral Commission if there was any such law or rule that suggested another referendum could be called if turnout did not reach 75 percent or that the vote is less that 60 percent.

A spokeswoman for the commission confirmed to Sputnik that "there is no such threshold in referendum legislation."

© Flickr/ Jean-Claude Juncker

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The petition has already passed the 100,000 mark, triggering a government debate on the issue, but is being investigated by parliamentary authorities, after it was discovered that 77,000 signatures were fraudulent, with many coming from the Cayman Island, Iceland and Tunisia.

The Vatican — with a population of just 800 — returned more than 39,000 signatures. 

Fraudulent Signatures

Helen Jones, the chair of the petitions committee, said:

"The Government Digital Service are taking action to investigate and, where necessary, remove fraudulent signatures. People adding fraudulent signatures to this petition should know that they undermine the cause they pretend to support.

"It is clear that this petition is very important to a substantial number of people. The petitions committee will be considering the petition at its meeting next week, and will decide whether or not to schedule a debate on it." 

Although the many non-fraudulent signatures exceed the trigger point of 100,000 for a parliamentary debate, this by no means that politicians in the Houses of Parliament will actually do anything about it. The last time a petition triggered a debate was when there were calls for US presidential candidate Donald Trump to be barred from entering the UK.

Forget Brexit — #Belfast has a message for Donald #Trump pic.twitter.com/cGLbm59DS9

— Sputnik UK (@SputnikNewsUK) June 24, 2016​

MPs spoke about the matter for two hours before resolving that it had "considered" the petition. Trump arrived in Scotland the day after the EU referendum.

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Second UK Referendum Petition Rife with Fraud

Rohini Rathour

27 June 2016

http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/opinion/2462921/why...

The definition of democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives, writes Rohini Rathour, formerly a fund manager and analyst at Sarasin & Partners.

The choice is for a person or an ideology for a finite period. If it turns out to be not the right choice, at least you know it is not permanent.

Over the last several years, there has been what I call the 'SimonCowellisation' of Democracy. The Great British public has got accustomed to choosing winners of all manner of talent shows.

Quite often the winner is not whom you might expect or even the most worthy of the title. Protest votes and voting for the underdog is not a uniquely British trait. The public votes for that which most chimes with their prevailing mood.

The decision to unravel a complex trade union that has been built over four decades with a simple yes or not is not the same as picking a winner who will make headline news for a day.

Undoubtedly many across the country found the arguments set out by the Leave campaign seductive. Emotive words such as ‘higher wages', ‘immigration', ‘NHS', ‘sovereignty' and ‘independence' overshadowed the cautionary statements from the Remain camp about the dire consequences of a Brexit vote.

Project reality

Now that ‘Project fear' has become ‘Project reality', it is obvious that no one was more surprised at the outcome of the referendum than those in the Leave campaign.

The back peddling has started in earnest, and it is clear no one knows how we are going to get to this post-Brexit promised land. While the epicentre of this ‘seismic event' is here in the UK, its ripple effect is being felt worldwide. The uncertainty will be crippling to investment and economic progress. The only winners are likely to be legal experts who will be kept busy for years reframing legislation and deals that have been linked to the EU for decades.

The petition for a second referendum has already got over three million signatures. The perceived wisdom is that the people have spoken and now the country must accept the verdict and get on with things, with a stiff British upper lip. A second referendum is not in the spirit of democracy, they say.

But just over 17 million people voted Leave, outnumbering by a million those who chose Remain. However, 13 million people abstained from voting. Why? Could they just not be bothered or perhaps they just did not know which way to vote. They may have a much better idea now. There is evidence that a number of those who voted Leave now regret doing so and have openly stated that they did not think their vote would matter or that they would win.

Changing minds

Consumers are allowed post-purchase remorse and have the opportunity to return goods within a reasonable period of time should they change their mind. Even with financial services we are given a fourteen-day cooling off period should you decide you made a mistake.

So why in a mature democracy such as ours should the populace not be allowed to change their minds? They have now had a glimpse of the true impact of their momentous decision. It will be a sign of great maturity to re-run the referendum giving people a second chance to make their choice, and allowing those who did not vote before to have their voice heard this time.