(A) Council may submit question to electors. The Legislative Council of the town, upon written request of any member, and upon a two-thirds majority vote of all of its members, present or absent, at a meeting of the Council, may submit any question to a vote of the electors of the town as an advisory, nonbinding referendum, to be voted upon at the next regular state or municipal election.
(B) Elector may apply for petition papers.
(1) Likewise, any elector of the town may apply with the Town Clerk for petition papers for an advisory, nonbinding referendum on any question. The application shall contain a statement of the question for which the referendum is sought. Within five business days, the Town Clerk shall provide the elector with a sufficient number of copies of petition papers for seeking signatures for the referendum. Each petition paper shall contain the same statement of the referendum question, shall bear the certificate of the Town Clerk showing the date on which the petition paper was issued, and shall indicate the name and address of the person to whom it was issued. To bring the referendum question to the Legislative Council for consideration, the petition papers must be signed by 10% of the qualified electors of the town as determined from the last official voting list.
(2) To be valid, any petition paper returned must be filed with the Town Clerk within 90 calendar days after the date on which it was issued, must have the name and address of the circulator (who must be an elector registered to vote in the town) of the petition paper, contain a statement that the circulator either knows personally or was given satisfactory evidence of the identity of each petition signer, and each petition paper must be signed and dated by the circulator under penalties of false statement.
(3) On the next business day following return of a petition paper, the Town Clerk shall certify to the validity of the petition paper and refer it to the Office of the Registrar of Voters, which within ten business days shall verify which signatures are by registered voters and shall return the petition paper to the Town Clerk with its findings endorsed thereon. On the next business day after a sufficient number of verified signatures have been returned to the Town Clerk, the Town Clerk shall submit the petition papers to the Council for its consideration at its next regular meeting.
(4) Upon receipt of the petition papers, the Council shall refer the referendum question to an appropriate committee for public hearing before the next regular meeting of the Council. At the Council meeting following the public hearing, the Council, by a majority vote of all its members present may submit the referendum question to a vote of the electors as described in division (A) above. If the board takes no action within 40 days, the referendum question shall be deemed approved.
(C) Question to appear on ballot if signatures equal certain amount. Likewise, following (B)(1), (B)(2) and (B)(3) above, if the number of verified signatures equals or exceeds 15% of the qualified electors of the town as determined from the last official voting list, said advisory, nonbinding referendum question shall appear on the ballot at the next regular state or municipal election.
(Ord. 213, adopted 7-6-82)
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