There is hereby granted to the board of county commissioners of each of the several counties of this state the right and authority to permit the sale of table wine and/or dessert wine, as defined in this chapter, within the borders of the several counties of this state, which may be exercised in the following manner:

1. (a) the board of county commissioners of each county of this state may, by resolution regularly adopted, provided that retail sale of table wine and/or dessert wine, as defined in this chapter, shall be permitted within the county, and upon a certification of such resolution to the director, a retail wine license shall thereafter be issued for premises within such county so long as such resolution remains in effect; or

2. (b) the board of county commissioners of each of the several counties of this state may submit the question of permitting the sale of table wine and/or dessert wine at retail within the boundaries of the county to the electors of the county.

   The board of county commissioners may make an order calling an election to be held, subject to the provisions of section 34-106, Idaho Code, within said county in the manner provided by law for holding elections for county officers. All laws of the state of Idaho relating to the holding of elections for county officers shall apply to the holdings of the election provided for in this section, except where specifically modified herein.

   Such election may also be called upon written petition of registered electors equal in number to twenty percent (20%) of the registered, qualified electors of the county for the last general election under the following conditions:

3. (a) The petition for such an election shall be in substantially the following form:

   RETAIL WINE SALE PETITION

   To the Honorable County Commissioners of the County of …., State of Idaho:

   We, the undersigned citizens and registered, qualified electors of the County of …., respectfully demand that the Board of County Commissioners submit the question of permitting the sale of table wine (and/or dessert wine) at retail within the boundaries of the County of …. to the electors of the county in the manner provided in section 23-1304, Idaho Code.

   We, each for himself, say: I am a registered elector of the County of …. and my residence, post office address, county, election precinct and the date I signed this petition are correctly written after my name.

   Name Residence Post Office County Election Precinct Date (If in a city, street and number)

   (Here follow twenty numbered lines for signatures)

4. (b) Before or at the time of beginning to circulate any petition for an election to determine sale of wine at retail, the person or persons, organization or organizations, under whose authority the petition is to be circulated, shall send or deliver to the county clerk a copy of such petition duly signed by at least twenty (20) electors eligible to sign such petition. The county clerk shall immediately examine the petition and specify the form and kind and size of paper on which the petition shall be printed and circulated for further signatures. All petitions and sheets for signatures shall be printed on a good quality bond or ledger paper, on pages eight and one-half (8 1/2) inches in width by thirteen (13) inches in length, with a margin of one and three-fourths (1 3/4) inches at the top for binding, and the sheets for signatures shall have numbered lines thereon from one (1) to twenty (20) for signatures. The petition shall be prepared in sections, with each section numbered consecutively. Each section of a petition must have a printed copy of the petition as the first page, and each section shall have attached to it not more than ten (10) sheets for signatures.
5. (c) The county clerk shall indicate in writing on the petition that he has approved it as to form and the date of such approval. Upon approval as to form, the county clerk shall inform the person or persons, organization or organizations, under whose authority the petition is to be circulated, in writing, that the petition must be perfected with the required number of signatures within one hundred eighty (180) days following the date of approval as to form. Any petition that has not been perfected with the required number of certified signatures within the one hundred eighty (180) days allowed shall be declared null and void ab initio in its entirety, except for the extension allowed for in subsection (g) of this section.

6. (d) Each and every signature sheet of each petition containing signatures shall be verified on the face thereof in substantially the following form by the person who circulated said sheet of the petition, by his or her affidavit thereon, as a part thereof:

   State of Idaho

   County of ….

   I, …., swear, under penalty of perjury, that every person who signed this sheet of the foregoing petition signed his or her name thereto in my presence. I believe that each has stated his or her name and the accompanying required information on the signature sheet correctly, and that the person was eligible to sign this petition.

   Subscribed and sworn to before me this …. day of …., 2….

   (Notary Seal)

7. (e) All petitions with attached signature sheets shall be presented to the county clerk on the same day and a cursory examination of the petitions shall be made by him. The cursory examination shall be made to determine whether the petitions apparently contain the necessary number of signatures. If the total number of signatures on the petitions is not sufficient to satisfy the number required by this law, all petitions with attached signature sheets shall be returned to the person or organization attempting to file them, and further signatures may be gathered. If the cursory examination of the signature sheets reveals:

   1. (1) erasures on any signature;
   2. (2) illegible or unidentifiable signatures; or

   3. (3) signatures not properly identified by all the information required on the sheet,

      the county clerk shall summarily reject such signature and such signatures shall not be counted. Each rejected signature shall be drawn through with ink and initialed by the county clerk or his deputy. If the total number of signatures not rejected is not sufficient to satisfy the number required by law, all petitions with attached signature sheets shall be returned to the person or organization attempting to file them, and further signatures may be gathered.

8. (f) All petitions presented to the county clerk found to apparently contain the necessary number of signatures, after the cursory examination provided for in subsection (e) of this section, shall be filed with the county clerk and become public records of the county not to be returned. The county clerk shall examine each signature purported to be that of a registered elector and compare each such signature with the registration documents available to him. The county clerk shall summarily reject all signatures which are not the signatures of registered electors; and such rejected signatures shall not be counted. Each rejected signature shall be drawn through with ink and initialed by the clerk or his deputy. The county clerk may take not to exceed twenty (20) days after filing of the petition to complete his examination. The county clerk shall certify each signature found to comply with all of the requirements of this act by an appropriate mark following each signature. The county clerk shall total the number of certified signatures and certify the number thereof to the board of county commissioners.
9. (g) In the event that a petition filed with the county clerk does not contain the required number of certified signatures, the county clerk shall inform the person or organization under whose authority the petition was circulated that the petition is defective for lack of certified signatures, and specify the number of additional signatures required to make the petition valid. The petition must be perfected within sixty (60) days of the date that the clerk finds the petition defective for lack of certified signatures. If the petition is not perfected within the sixty (60) day period, the clerk shall declare the petition null and void ab initio in its entirety.

10. (h) In the event the county clerk shall certify to the board of county commissioners that a petition contains the required number of signatures of registered, qualified electors, said governing body shall forthwith make an order calling an election to be held, subject to the provisions of section 34-106, Idaho Code, within said county in the manner provided by law for holding elections for county officers.

    In addition to the other requirements of law, the notice of election shall notify the electors of the issue to be voted upon at said election. The county recorder must furnish the ballots to be used in such election, which ballots must contain the following words:

    "Sale of table wine at retail, Yes,"

    "Sale of table wine at retail, No."

    and, if applicable:

    "Sale of dessert wine at retail, Yes,"

    "Sale of dessert wine at retail, No."

    and the elector in order to vote must mark an "X" opposite one (1) of the questions in the space provided therefor. Upon a canvass of the votes cast, the county recorder shall certify the result thereof to the director. If a majority of the votes cast are affirmative on the issue or issues presented, licenses shall be issued in said county as in this chapter provided. If a majority of the votes cast are in the negative on the issue or issues presented, then no license shall be issued in said county unless thereafter authorized by a subsequent election in said county which may be called in the manner provided for herein.

    No resolution or election prohibiting the sale of table wine and/or dessert wine within the boundaries of any county of this state shall have an effective date prior to the end of the then current calendar year if at the time of the adoption thereof there shall be any outstanding valid retail wine licenses in good standing for premises within such county.

    The signer of any petition under this chapter may remove his own name from the petition by crossing out, obliterating, or otherwise defacing his own signature at any time prior to the time when the petition is filed. The signer of any such petition may have his name removed from the petition at any time after the petition has been filed, but prior to the time when an election has been ordered, by presenting or submitting to the county clerk a signed, acknowledged statement that the signer desires to have his name removed from the petition. The statement shall contain sufficient information to clearly identify the signer. The county clerk shall immediately strike the signer’s name from the petition, and adjust the total of certified signatures on the petition accordingly. The statement shall be attached to, and become a part of, the petition.

    A person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary, not to exceed two (2) years, who:

11. (a) Signs any name other than his own to any petition.
12. (b) Knowingly signs his name more than once on the same petition.
13. (c) Willfully or knowingly circulates, publishes or exhibits any false statement or representation concerning the contents, purport or effect of any petition for the purpose of obtaining any signature to any such petition, or for the purpose of persuading any person to sign any such petition.
14. (d) Circulates or causes to circulate any petition, knowing the same to contain false, forged or fictitious names.
15. (e) Makes any false affidavit concerning any petition or the signatures appended thereto.
16. (f) Knowingly makes any false return, certification or affidavit concerning any petition or the signatures appended thereto.
17. (g) Threatens any person with punitive or retaliatory action for the purpose of obtaining signatures or hindering or delaying the obtaining of signatures upon a petition.

[23-1304, added 1971, ch. 156, sec. 4, p. 760; am. 1973, ch. 142, sec. 1, p. 273; am. 1974, ch. 27, sec. 63, p. 811; am. 1995, ch. 118, sec. 13, p. 440; am. 2003, ch. 119, sec. 2, p. 364.]