§ 1.8-802. Initiative and Referendum Procedures.

 (a)  Initiative and referendum procedures shall be started upon petition signed by fifteen (15) percent of the registered voters of the County at large eligible to vote at the last previous municipal, primary or general election. Every initiative and referendum petition shall contain or have attached thereto throughout its circulation the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.

 (b)  Each elector signing an initiative or referendum petition shall add to his or her signature, occupation, residence and the date of signing. Signatures on an initiative or referendum petition may be on separate sheets, but each sheet shall have appended to it the affidavit of some person, not necessarily a signer of the petition, that to the best of the affiant’s knowledge and belief the persons whose signatures appear on the sheet are qualified electors of the County, that they signed with full knowledge of the contents of the petition, and that their residences are correctly given.

 (c)  An initiative or referendum petition shall be tendered for filing to the Election and Registration Commission. No signature shall be counted as valid which is dated more than sixty (60) days prior to the date the petition is tendered for filing. Upon tender to the Election and Registration Commission, the petition shall be available for examination by any interested person. Within fifteen (15) days after tender of the petition, the Election and Registration Commission shall pass upon the validity of the petition and validity and number of signatures required thereon. The decision of the Election and Registration Commission shall be subject to immediate review on appeal to the Court of Common Pleas.

 (d)  When an initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined sufficient, the Board shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner provided in Article III of this Charter or reconsider the referred ordinance by voting its repeal. If the Board fails to adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance within sixty (60) days, or fails to repeal the referred ordinance within thirty (30) days after the date the petition was finally determined sufficient, the Election and Registration Commission shall submit the proposed or referred ordinance to the qualified electors of the County.

 (e)  The vote of the qualified electors of the County on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held at the next election occurring not less than sixty (60) days from the date of the final Board vote thereon.

 (f)  An initiative or referendum petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the 15th day preceding the day scheduled for a vote of the qualified electors of the County by filing with the Election and Registration Commission a request for withdrawal signed by at least twenty-five (25) percent of the petitioners. Upon the filing of such request, the petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.