(a) Scope of the Referendum. The people of Anne Arundel County reserve to themselves the power known as "The Referendum, " by petition to have submitted to the registered voters of the County, to approve or reject at the polls, any ordinance or part of any ordinance of the County Council. The referendum petition against any such ordinance shall be sufficient if signed by ten per centum of the qualified voters of the County calculated upon the whole number of votes cast in the County for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. Such petition shall be filed with the Board of Supervisors of Elections of Anne Arundel County within forty-five days after the ordinance becomes law. If such a petition is filed as aforesaid, the ordinance or part thereof to be referred shall not take effect until thirty days after its approval by a majority of the qualified voters of the County voting thereon at the next ensuing election held for members of the House of Representatives of the United States; provided, however, that if more than one-half but less than the full number of signatures required to complete any referendum petition against such ordinance be filed within forty-five days from the date it becomes law, the time for the ordinance to take effect and the time for filing the remainder of signatures to complete the petition shall be extended for an additional thirty days with like effect. Any emergency ordinance shall remain in force from the date it becomes law notwithstanding the filing of such petition, but shall stand repealed thirty days after having been rejected by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon. No ordinance making any appropriation for current expense for maintaining the County government, or for maintaining or aiding any public institution, not exceeding the next previous appropriation for the same purpose, shall be subject to rejection or repeal under this section. The increase in any such appropriation for maintaining the County government or for maintaining or aiding any public institution specified in the petition may be referred to a vote of the people of the County upon petition as above provided.
(b) Form of Petition. A petition may consist of several papers, but each paper shall contain the full text of the ordinance or the part of the ordinance petitioned upon; and there shall be attached to each such paper an affidavit of the person procuring the signatures thereon that, to the said person's own personal knowledge, each signature thereon is genuine and bona fide, and that to the best of their knowledge, information and belief the signers are registered voters of the State of Maryland and Anne Arundel County, as set opposite their names.
(Res. No. 7-16; Res. No. 30-22)