(A) Certificate of Clerk; Amendment. Within twenty (20) days after the petition is filed, the City Clerk shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall promptly send a copy of the certificate to the petitioners’ committee by registered mail. Grounds for insufficiency are only those specified in the above section. A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the petitioners’ committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the Clerk within two (2) days after receiving the copy of his certificate and files a supplementary petition and additional papers within ten (10) days after receiving the copy of such certificate. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of subsections (B) and (C) of the above section; and within five (5) days after it is filed, the Clerk shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition as amended and promptly send a copy of such certificate to the petitioners’ committee by registered mail as in the case of an original petition. If a petition or amended petition is certified sufficient or if a petition or amended petition is certified insufficient and the petitioners’ committee does not elect to amend or request Council review, under subsection (B) of this section within the time required, the Clerk shall promptly present his certificate to the Council and the certificate shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
(B) Council Review. If a petition has been certified insufficient and the petitioners’ committee does not file notice of intention to amend it or if an amended petition has been certified insufficient, the committee may, within two (2) days after receiving the copy of such certificate, file a request that it be reviewed by the Council. The Council shall review the certificate at its next meeting following the filing of such request and approve or disapprove it, and the Council’s determination shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
(C) New Petition. A final determination of insufficiency shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
(D) Costs. The cost of checking the names on a petition against the list of registered voters shall be born by the petitioners’ committee.
(Ord. passed - -)