Section 9309 Of Article 1. Initiative From California Elections Code >> Division 9. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 1.
9309
. (a) Within 30 days from the date of filing of the petition,
excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, if, from the examination
of petitions pursuant to Section 9308, more than 500 signatures have
been signed on the petition, the district elections official may use
a random sampling technique for verification of signatures. The
random sample of signatures to be verified shall be drawn in such a
manner that every signature filed with the elections official shall
be given an equal opportunity to be included in the sample. A random
sampling shall include an examination of at least 500 or 3 percent of
the signatures, whichever is greater.
(b) If the statistical sampling shows that the number of valid
signatures is within 95 to 110 percent of the number of signatures of
qualified voters needed to declare the petition sufficient, the
district elections official, within 60 days from the date of the
filing of the petition, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays,
shall examine and verify each signature filed.
(c) In determining from the records of registration, what number
of valid signatures are signed on the petition, the district
elections official may use the duplicate file of affidavits
maintained, or may check the signatures against facsimiles of voters'
signatures, provided that the method of preparing and displaying the
facsimiles complies with law.
(d) The district elections official shall attach to the petition,
a certificate showing the result of this examination, and shall
notify the proponents of either the sufficiency or insufficiency of
the petition.
(e) If the petition is found insufficient, no action shall be
taken on the petition. However, the failure to secure sufficient
signatures shall not preclude the filing later of an entirely new
petition to the same effect.
(f) If the petition is found to be sufficient, the district
elections official shall certify the results of the examination to
the governing board of the district at the next regular meeting of
the board.