Page 15 - Special District Handbook with Cover-Final

PHASE 3 – CIRCULATION OF THE PETITION

YOU’RE ALMOST READY!

You cannot start to circulate the petition for signatures among the voters of the special district until after publication or posting of the Notice of Intention and the Statement of Reasons. Elec. Code § 9305 Remember: Each section (page) of the petition shall bear a copy of the

Notice of Intention and the Statement of Reasons. Elec. Code § 9305

• There are two important pieces of information you need to know before circulating a special district initiative petition:

(1) How many signatures are required to qualify the special district initiative? (2) How many days do you have to get the job done?

STEP 1…NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED TO QUALIFY A SPECIAL DISTRICT INITIATIVE

• The district elections official will advise the proponents of the number of signatures required to sign the petition by determining 10% of the registered voters in the district, where the total number of registered voters is less than

500,000 , as of the time of the last report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of State made prior to the publication or posting of the Notice of Intention to circulate the initiative petition. Elec. Code §§ 9310 • The district elections official will advise the proponents of the number of signatures required to sign the petition by determining 5% of the registered voters in the district, where the total number of registered voters is 500,000 or more , as of the time of the last report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of State made prior to the publication or posting of the Notice of Intention to circulate the initiative petition. Elec. Code §§ 9310, 9311 • In order to have the ordinance on a special election ballot, a proponent must request a special election in the petition. However, Elections Code section 9311(b) provides an option for a special district board to set a special election even if one is not requested in the petition. Elec. Code §§ 9310, 9311 • See pages 13, 18, and 19 for more information on number of signatures required.

10