Item 6: Ordinance Revising Elections Code

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city measure, and the rebuttal to the argument in opposition to the measure, shall be submitted by one or more of the city councilors who voted in favor of the ordinance referred. The written argument in opposition to the city measure, and the rebuttal to the argument in support of the measure, shall be submitted by one or more of the chief petitioners of the [referral] referendum petition, so long as the persons who submit the argument and rebuttal first certify under penalty of perjury that they are bona fide opponents of the ordinance. If the chief petitioners are not bona fide opponents (e.g., if they merely favor the opportunity to vote on the issue), the argument in opposition to the city measure, and the rebuttal to the argument in support of the measure, shall be submitted by a three-person committee chosen in the same manner as provided by paragraph [(1)](a) of this subsection. (2) If one or more members of the committees preparing the arguments or rebuttals cannot agree on a [consensus] committee statement, he or she may write his or her own statement not exceeding [one-third of the total number of words allocated to the argument or] 116 words if the statement is one of argument or 66 words if the statement is one of rebuttal. The length of the [consensus] committee argument or rebuttal, if any, shall be reduced by the same amount. (3) Statements from candidates for city offices, other than those statements submitted pursuant to subsection 2.993(4), shall be submitted not less than 56 days prior to the date of an election. (2) []4 Not less than [47] 56 days prior to the date of an election [(54 days for mail ballots)], additional arguments, authorized by subsection 2.994(1)(c) of this code, in support of, or in opposition to a measure[, authorized by subsection 2.994(1)(c),] may be submitted, providing [the petition submitting the argument is] that each additional argument is accompanied by the signatures of 300 electors [of the city] supporting the argument or [is accompanied] by a fee of $300. (3) [ Statements from candidates for city offices shall be submitted not less than 47 days prior to the date of an election (54 days for mail ballots).] (4) []a Each person signing a petition shall subscribe to a statement that the person has read and agrees with the argument. (5) []b [Signatures on the petition shall be verified by the city recorder or designee by comparing the signatures of the electors on the petition with the signatures of the electors on the elector registration cards.] The city recorder or designee shall verify the signatures on a petition as provided in subsection 2.979(1) of this code. The city recorder or designee shall attach to the petition a certificate stating the number of elector signatures [believed to be genuine] on the petition. A signature [not included in the number certified to be genuine] that is not the signature of an elector shall not be counted by the city recorder for determining compliance with [subsection (2) of] this subsection.