Wiesbaden (dpa / lhe) - The state government has submitted the application for a referendum for a traffic turnaround in Hesse for examination. The state returning officer said on Monday that the decision had to be made within a month of submitting the application. The applications were submitted on August 28th. The initiators submitted more than the required number of signatures, at least 43,728.
Further requirements must be met before a referendum can begin: three shop stewards must be specified, a draft law must be prepared and it must comply with the provisions of the constitution, explained the state returning officer.
According to the initiators, including the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC) Hessen and the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) Hessen, the requirements have been met. The ADFC had explained that it was assumed that the proposed legal text was permissible because several lawyers were involved.
The aim of the referendum is a traffic turning law, with which mobility in Hesse is to be made climate-neutral and socially just by 2030. Cycle paths, footpaths and, above all, buses and trains are to be greatly expanded.
For the actual referendum, signatures have to be collected again, then there are around 218,600. If this succeeds, the state parliament must deal with the draft law. If there is no agreement here, a referendum is possible, in which the majority of those entitled to vote can pass the law.
According to their own statements, the initiators handed over more than 70,000 signatures as part of a bicycle demonstration with thousands of participants at the end of August. The state returning officer explained that 45,000 signatures had been checked and that the check was then stopped because the requirement had been met.
