22-29-107. Requirements of filing petition; validity and certification of signatures.

(a) A petition shall not be accepted for filing unless the signatures thereon have been secured within six (6) months of the date on which the first signature on the petition was affixed. Petitions required to be filed with the county commissioners shall be filed with the county clerk. Petitions required to be filed with the district board shall be filed with the secretary of the district board. It is not necessary to offer all counterparts of a petition for filing at the same time, but all counterparts when certified as provided by subsection (c) of this section shall be filed at the same time.

(b) Within ten (10) business days after the date a petition is offered for filing, the county clerk or district secretary, as the case may be, shall examine the petition and determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of qualified signers. If the requisite number of qualified signers have signed the petition, the county clerk or district secretary shall file the petition. If the requisite number have not signed, the county clerk or district secretary shall so notify the chief petitioners and may return the petition to the petitioners.

(c) A petition shall not be filed unless the certificate of the county clerk or the district secretary is attached thereto certifying that the county clerk or district secretary has verified the qualifications of the signers with the appropriate records, that the county clerk or district secretary has ascertained therefrom the number of qualified signers appearing on the petition, and that the petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified signers.

(d) Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 115, § 5.