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I CHAPTER 5 (Draft Replacement Option 10/9/2003) 2 IIIINITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL Section 5.01. General Voter Authority. The people of Mounds View have the right, in 6 accordance with this Charter, to propose ordinances [initiative] and to require that any ordinance 7 be referred to the voters [referendum], except those that appropriate money or levy taxes. The 8 voters also have the right to remove elected public officials [recall]. The term voter(s), as used in 9 Chapter 5, shall refer only to residents of the City of Mounds View who first register, or who have 10 registered and are qualified to vote. Per Minnesota Statute 200.039 (as amended), eligibility to 11 sign the petition is not restricted to only those who were eligible to or did cast ballots in the 12 previous election. 13 14 Section 5.02. Petitions. To circulate a petition provided for under this chapter, it must be 15 sponsored by a committee of five or more voters of the City whose names and addresses appear 16 on the petition. A petition consists of one or more pages with each separately circulated page 17 containing at its head the information specified in sections 5.05, 5.07 or 5.08 which apply, 18 respectively, to initiative, referendum and recall. The committee may obtain a sample petition 19 from the city Clerk-Administrator. All petition circulators must be voters of the City. Each 20 separate page of the petition must have appended to it a certificate by the circulator, verified by 21 oath. The certificate shall affirm that each signature was made in the circulator's presence and 22 that the circulator believes them to be the genuine signature of the voter whose name it purports 23 to be and that each signer was presented with the full petition. Each signer of a petition must be 24 a voter of the City and must sign and print their name and give their street address. Any voter 25 whose name appears on a petition may withdraw their name by filing a statement in writing with the Clerk-Administrator before the Clerk-Administrator advises the Council of the sufficiency of the etition. 29 Section 5.03. Determination of Petition Sufficiency. The committee must file the completed 30 petition in the office of the Clerk-Administrator. The Clerk-Administrator shall provide the number 31 of total ballots cast for President in the most recent Presidential election. For a petition to be 32 sufficient, the required number of signatures shall be a percentage of that number. 33 • Petitions for Initiative and Referendum require at least 15 percent. 34 • Petitions for Recall, at least 25 percent. 35 Within 10 working days of receipt of the petition, the Clerk-Administrator shall determine its 36 sufficiency. Upon final determination of sufficiency, the Clerk-Administer shall report the date of 37 the determination and its sufficiency to the Council at or before the next regularly scheduled 38 meeting. Upon receipt of the report, the Council shall immediately declare the sufficiency of the 39 petition by resolution including the reported date of determination of sufficiency. 40 41 Section 5.04. Disposition of Insufficient or Irregular Petition. If the Clerk-Administrator 42 determines that the sufficiency of a petition cannot be declared, it shall be determined to be 43 insufficient or irregular. The Clerk-Administrator shall deliver a copy of the petition, together with 44 a written statement of its defects, to the sponsoring committee. The committee shall have 30 45 calender days in which to file additional signature papers and/or to correct the specified 46 irregularity. Within five working days of receipt of the corrected petition, the Clerk-Administrator 47 shall determine the sufficiency of the petition as corrected and proceed as directed in Section 48 5.03. If the petition is still insufficient or irregular, this shall be considered the Final Finding and 49 the Clerk-Administrator shall file the petition as noted and immediately notify the sponsoring committee that no further action will be taken. The final finding that the petition is insufficient or regular shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose. Except in the case f a petition for recall, it shall not prevent the Council from referring the subject matter of the 53 petition to the voters at the next regular or special election.