1. A. Before any referendum petition is circulated for signatures, the sponsors shall submit the original draft thereof to the secretary of state to determine whether or not it meets the requirements of law for referendum petitions. At the same time the original draft is submitted to the secretary of state, the sponsors shall also submit a suggested popular name for the law that is the object of the petition.

2. B. Within thirty days after submission of the original draft and suggested popular name, the secretary of state shall:

   1. (1) approve and certify the original draft of the petition and approve and certify the suggested popular name or a more suitable and correct popular name; or
   2. (2) disapprove the original draft and specify each deficiency not in compliance with the law.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-17-8, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 393; 2023, ch. 39, § 77.

ANNOTATIONS

The 2023 amendment, effective June 16, 2023, expanded the time for the secretary of state to approve an original draft of a referendum petition from ten to thirty days; and in Subsection B, after "Within", deleted "ten" and added "thirty".

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Time within which officer must perform duty to pass upon sufficiency of initiative, referendum, or recall petition, 102 A.L.R. 51.

82 C.J.S. Statutes §§ 131 to 134.