A. In the event that a petition filed with a clerk of the district court does not contain the required number of certified signatures, the clerk of the district court shall inform the person or organization under whose authority the petition was circulated that the petition is defective for lack of certified signatures and specify the number of additional signatures required to make the petition valid. The petition must be perfected within thirty (30) days of the date that the clerk of the district court finds the petition defective for lack of certified signatures. If the petition is not perfected within the thirty (30) day period, the clerk of the district court shall declare the petition null and void ab initio in its entirety.
B. In the event that a petition filed with the clerk of the district court is found by the clerk of the district court to contain the required number of certified signatures, the clerk of the district court shall promptly, by certified mail, inform the petitioners and shall also notify the board of county commissioners at its next meeting that the initiative or referendum petition is in proper form.
1. If the petition is for a referendum, the board of county commissioners shall have thirty (30) days from the date of certification of the petition to repeal the ordinance being referred to the voters. In the event the board of county commissioners repeals the ordinance, the referendum petition shall be declared null and void.
2. If the petition is an initiative petition, the board of county commissioners shall have thirty (30) days to pass an ordinance substantially as proposed by the petition. In the event the board of county commissioners passes such an ordinance, the initiative petition shall be null and void.
3. In the event the board of county commissioners neither repeals the ordinance which is the subject of a referendum petition nor enacts an ordinance which is the subject of an initiative petition, an election shall be ordered by the clerk of the district court to be conducted countywide. A special election for initiative or referendum shall be provided not more than ninety (90) days following the certification of the petition; provided, that in the event a county election will occur within the ninety (90) days, the initiative or referendum shall be submitted at the time of the county election. (Ord. 79-3, 10-10-1979)