1002 PREPARATION OF SHORT TITLE, SUMMARY STATEMENT, AND LEGISLATIVE FORM

1002.1 Within twenty (20) calendar days of the date on which the Board accepts the initiative or referendum measure, the Board shall prepare the following:- (a) An abbreviated and impartial summary statement not exceeding one hundred (100) words in length expressing the chief purpose of the proposed measure;

- (b) A short title for the measure not exceeding fifteen (15) words in length by which it will be readily identifiable and distinguished from other measures which may appear on the ballot; and

- (c) The proper legislative form of the initiative or referendum measure, where applicable, similar to the form of an act that has completed the course of the legislative process within the District of Columbia government before transmittal to Congress.1002.2 The Board shall formally adopt the summary statement, short title and legislative form of the initiative or referendum measure at a public meeting.1002.3 Within five (5) days of formally adopting the summary statement, short title, and legislative text, the Board shall do the following:- (a) Notify the proposer of the measure of the exact language by certified mail; and

- (b) Submit the summary statement, short title, and legislative form to the D.C. Register for publication.1002.4 Any registered qualified elector who objects to the summary statement, short title, or legislative form of the measure formulated by the Board may, under D.C. Code § 1-1001.16(e) (2006 Repl.), within ten (10) days petition the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for review.1002.5 If no review in the Superior Court is sought as provided in § 1002.4, the proposed short title, summary statement, and legislative form shall be considered to be accepted at the expiration of the ten (10) day period for review.1002.6 The short title certified by the Board pursuant to § 1002.2 shall be the title of the measure furnished with any petition, the title printed on the ballot, and the title used in any other proceedings relating to the measure.1002.7 Copies of the approved short title, summary statement, and full legislative text shall be made available to the public by the Board at no charge in the offices of the Board and for review in its offices and in the public libraries until the proposed measure has run its full course. Additional copies shall be made available to the public by the Board for purchase at nominal cost.1002.8 For the purposes of this section, the following shall apply to the counting of words in the summary statement prepared by the Board pursuant to § 1002.1:- (a) Punctuation is not counted;

- (b) Each word shall be counted as one (1) word except as specified in this subsection;

- (c) All geographical names shall be considered as one (1) word; for example, 'District of Columbia' shall be counted as one (1) word;

- (d) Each abbreviation for a word, phrase, or expression shall be counted as one (1) word;

(e) Hyphenated words that appear in any generally available dictionary shall be considered as one (1) word. Each part of all other hyphenated words shall be counted as a separate word;

(f) Dates consisting of a combination of words and digits shall be counted as two (2) words. Dates consisting only of a combination of digits shall be counted as one (1) word; and

(g) Any number consisting of a digit or digits shall be considered as one (1) word. Any number which is spelled, such as "one," shall be considered as a separate word or words. "One" shall be counted as one (1) word whereas "one hundred" shall be counted as two (2) words. The number one hundred "100," shall be counted as one (1) word.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 43 D.C. Reg. 103, 106 (January 12, 1996).

EDITOR'S NOTE: Former subsections 1002.8 and 1002.9 of this section were renumbered subsections 1002.7 and 1002.8, respectively.