Before circulating an initiative or referendum petition, the petitioner shall file with the Clerk a prospective petition. The Clerk shall date the prospective petition immediately upon its receipt. The Clerk shall verify that the prospective petition is in proper form and shall provide a ballot title for the initiative or referendum proposal, as described below. If the prospective petition is in proper form, the Clerk shall authorize the circulation of the petition and such authorization shall be given within three (3) working days from the date the prospective petition was filed. If the form of the prospective petition is incorrect, the Clerk shall, within three (3) working days from the date the prospective petition was filed, inform the petitioner of necessary changes and request that those changes be made. When the requested changes have been made and the revised prospective petition has been submitted to the Clerk in proper form, the Clerk shall authorize the circulation of the petition and such authorization shall be given within two (2) working days from the receipt of the properly revised petition. Verification by the Clerk that the prospective petition is in proper form does not constitute an admission by the Clerk, Governing Body, or Municipality that the measure is subject to referendum or limited referendum or that the measure may be enacted by initiative.
The ballot title of any measure to be initiated or referred shall consist of:
A. A briefly-worded caption by which the measure is commonly known or which accurately summarizes the measure;
B. A briefly-worded question which plainly states the purpose of the measure, and is phrased so that an affirmative response to the question corresponds to an affirmative vote on the measure; and
C. A concise and impartial statement, of not more than seventy-five (75) words, of the chief purpose of the measure.
The ballots used when voting on an initiative or referendum proposal shall contain the entire ballot title. Proposals for initiative and referendum shall be submitted on separate ballots and the ballots shall be printed in lower case ten point type, except that the caption shall be in bold face type. All initiative and referendum measures shall be submitted in a nonpartisan manner without indicating or suggesting on the ballot that they have or have not been approved or endorsed by any political party or organization. (Ref. 18-2512, 18-2513 RS Neb.)