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Article A – General Provisions Relating to Initiative, Referendum and Recall Petitions
(Refer to Chapter III for requirements related to Nominating Petitions).
(a) Whenever any initiative, referendum, or recall petition or other related paper is required to be signed only a registered voter shall be entitled to sign the petition or paper.
(b) The City Clerk shall review each initiative, referendum, or recall petition submitted to determine whether it contains at least the minimum number of signatures required pursuant to the Charter, is properly verified and is otherwise in the proper form. The City Clerk shall not accept any petition that does not meet the requirements of the Charter and this Code.
(c) The City Clerk shall examine each initiative, referendum, or recall petition filed to determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of qualified registered voters. Each petition shall be examined to determine whether: (i) the circulator of each section has fully executed the circulator affidavit and is registered to vote or qualified to register to vote in the State of California; (ii) each signer is a resident of the applicable jurisdiction; (iii) each signer is registered to vote at the address stated on the petition; and (iv) each signature is the genuine signature of a registered voter of the applicable jurisdiction. The examination of the signatures of the petition signers shall be conducted solely by a review of the registration records of the Los Angeles County Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk.
(d) Initiative, referendum and recall petitions shall be personally signed by registered voters of the applicable jurisdiction. In addition to the voter’s signature, the voter shall personally print the voter’s name, the voter’s complete residence address and date the petition was signed by the voter. If the voter is unable to personally print this information, the voter shall direct someone else to print the information on the petition. The City Clerk may request the date and month of birth, at the option of the voter, for the purpose of signature verification.
(a) The minority language requirements of this Section shall apply to Initiative, Referendum and Recall Petitions unless additional translations are required by other applicable law.
(b) City Initiative and Referendum Petitions shall be printed in English, and also in any minority language if more than 5% of the voting age population of the City are limited-English proficient members of that minority language group and the minority language is one of the languages identified by the federal government as a Voting Rights Act language for Los Angeles County.
(c) In connection with proceedings for the recall of the Mayor, City Attorney or Controller, Recall Petitions, as well as the Notice of Intention and Answer required under Chapter VII, shall be printed in English, and also in any minority language if more than 5% of the voting age population of the City are limited-English proficient members of that minority language group and the minority language is one of the languages identified by the federal government as a Voting Rights Act language for Los Angeles County.
(d) In connection with proceedings for the recall of a member of the City Council or a member of the Board of Education, Recall Petitions, as well as the Notice of Intention and Answer required under Chapter VII, shall be printed in English, and also in any minority language if more than 5% of the voting age population of that member’s district are limited-English proficient members of that minority language group and the minority language is one of the languages identified by the federal government as a Voting Rights Act language for Los Angeles County.
(e) For purposes of this Section, a person will be considered “limited-English proficient” if the person has self-identified in the most current data provided by the U.S. Bureau of the Census as speaking English less than “very well.”
(f) During the signature gathering process, Petitions presented to the potential Petition signers shall contain all the languages required pursuant to this Section.
(g) The City Clerk shall not accept any Initiative, Referendum or Recall Petition for filing unless the proponents have complied with all of the requirements of this section.
(h) The word limits contained in this Chapter shall not apply to the translated versions of Initiative, Referendum and Recall Petitions, nor to the translated versions of a Notice of Intention or Answer published in connection with Recall proceedings.
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