(A) All petitions with attached signature sheets shall be presented on the same day to the city clerk who shall make a cursory examination of them to determine whether the petitions apparently contain the necessary number of signatures.
1. If a total number of signatures on the petitions is not sufficient to satisfy the number required by section 1-13-2 of this chapter, all petitions with attached signature sheets shall be retained by the city clerk who shall notify in writing the person filing the petition of the number of signatures needed, and further signatures may be gathered, if within the time limit of section 1-13-5 of this chapter.
2. If the cursory examination of the signature sheets reveals:
(a) Erasures on any signature;
(b) Illegible or undecipherable signatures;
(c) Signatures not properly identified by all of the information required on the sheet;
(d) Duplicate signatures;
(e) Signatures of persons who have requested in writing to have their names removed from the petition;
the city clerk shall summarily reject such signatures and they shall not be counted. Each rejected signature shall be drawn through with ink and initialed by the clerk. If the total number of signatures not rejected is not sufficient to satisfy the number required by section 1-13-2 of this chapter, all petitions with attached signature sheets shall be retained by the clerk who shall notify in writing the person filing the petition of the number of signatures needed, and further signatures may be gathered, if within the time limit of section 1-13-5 of this chapter.
(B) All petitions presented to the city clerk found to apparently contain the necessary number of signatures, after the cursory examination provided for above, shall be filed with the city clerk and become public records of the city not to be returned. The city clerk shall examine each such signature purported to be that of a registered elector of the city, and compare each such signature with the registration documents available to the city clerk. The city clerk shall summarily reject all signatures which are not the signatures of a registered elector of the city; and such signature shall be drawn through with ink and initialed by the city clerk. The city clerk may take not to exceed ten (10) days after filing of the petition to complete his/her examination. The city clerk shall certify each signature found to comply with all of the requirements of this chapter by an appropriate mark following each signature. (Ord. 348, 3-21-2001)