§ 19-121 — Signature sheets; petitions; form; procedure for filing

A. Signature sheets filed shall:

1. Be in the form prescribed by law.

2. Have printed in their lower right-hand corner, on each side of such sheets, the official serial number assigned to the petition by the secretary of state and, if applicable, the registration number assigned to the circulator.

3. Be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text of the measure, or amendment to the constitution, proposed or referred by the petition.

4. Be printed in at least eight-point type.

5. Be printed in black ink on white or recycled white pages fourteen inches in width by eight and one-half inches in length, with a margin of at least one-half inch at the top and one-fourth inch at the bottom of each page. Notwithstanding this paragraph, the secretary of state may prescribe an alternative page width and length in the instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.

B. For the purposes of this chapter, a petition is filed when the petition sheets are tendered to the secretary of state, who shall issue a receipt based on an estimate made to the secretary of state of the purported number of sheets and signatures filed. A receipt may be electronically issued. After the issuance of the receipt, no additional petition sheets may be accepted for filing.

C. The secretary of state may prescribe the method of filing, including electronic filing. Not more than fifteen signatures on one sheet shall be counted. For petitions filed regarding city, town or county matters, the committee that is the proponent of the petition and that files the petitions shall organize the signature sheets and group them by circulator and is solely responsible for compliance with this subsection. The local filing officer may return as unfiled any signature sheets that are not so organized and grouped.

D. Initiative petitions that have not been filed with the secretary of state as of 5:00 p.m. on the day required by the constitution before the ensuing general election after their issuance shall be null and void, but in no event shall the secretary of state accept an initiative petition that was issued for circulation more than twenty-four months before the general election at which the measure is to be included on the ballot.

E. For the purposes of this article and article 4 of this chapter, the measure to be attached to the petition as enacted by the legislative body of an incorporated city, town or county means the adopted ordinance or resolution signed by the mayor or the chairman of the board of supervisors, as appropriate, and signed by the clerk of the municipality or the clerk of the board, as appropriate, or, in the absence of a written ordinance or resolution, that portion of the minutes of the legislative body that is approved by the governing body and filed with the clerk of the governing body and that reflects the action taken by that body when adopting the measure. In the case of zoning measures, the measure shall also include a legal description of the property and any amendments made to the ordinance by the legislative body.