Counting method

What is counted

Each registration is counted in the country of residence the person has given. To be counted, a registration must meet these conditions:

• Only adults count towards the threshold. Registration is open from the age of 12, with a parent's consent under 15. Only adults are counted towards the threshold that can open the way to a referendum. Those under 18 are counted separately, country by country. A registration without a date of birth is not counted until the date is given.
• The email address must be confirmed. After registering, the person receives an email with a link. The registration is counted once they have clicked on this link. Under 15, a parent first gives their consent; the young person then confirms their own address. A registration whose address was never confirmed is not counted; it is deleted automatically after 12 months.
• Older registrations were checked another way. Those recorded before this link was introduced, in October 2026, were checked by the association before being counted.

Once per address, duplicates set aside

• An email address can only be used for one registration.
• When counting, addresses that actually lead to the same mailbox count only once: the same address written with capital letters, or with something added after the “+” sign, or, for a Gmail address, with extra dots.
• Demonstration and test accounts are not counted.

This check cannot stop someone from using two different addresses. That is also why registrations decide nothing by themselves: in each country, it is the people who decide, by referendum.

Who checks the totals

When the time comes, the totals will be checked by an independent third party before being published.

As long as the World Map is not open, no figure is published.

What becomes of the lists

Once the referendum has taken place in a country, the list of names of the people registered in that country is destroyed. Only the totals are kept. Everyone can also, at any time, ask for their registration to be deleted.

Nothing is published individually: only totals by country are shown.