Chapter 3. Proceeding By Petition of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 16. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 3.

The petition for the formation of the district shall give the name of the district, which shall be the legal name under which the district shall be known, and shall set forth the extent of the proposed district, either by describing its exterior boundaries, or by naming the counties proposed to be included in it and shall contain a prayer that the proposed district be incorporated under the provisions of this part.

If only part of any county is proposed to be included in the district, the extent of the part of the county included may be indicated by naming the county and excepting therefrom some administrative or governmental subdivisions thereof, such as townships, school districts or other similar subdivisions, or the excluded portion may be described by its boundaries. In any description of included or excluded territory, reference to recorded instruments may be made for the purpose of defining boundaries.

Attached to each copy of the petition shall be a copy of the ordinance providing for its circulation.

The petition circulated in each county may consist of any number of separate copies of the original instrument and shall be signed by voters residing within the boundaries of the county or portion of the county proposed to be included in the district equal in number to at least 10 per cent of the number of voters in the county or portion thereof from which the petition is presented who voted for Governor of this State at the last general election at which a Governor was elected prior to the presentation of the petition.

The copies of the petition from each county shall be grouped or fastened together and submitted to the county elections official of that county for examination and verification. The county elections official shall have 30 days' time for the examination of the copies of the petition left with him or her for verification. Within that period of time he or she shall verify each of the signatures on the copies of the petition left with him or her, attach thereto his or her certificate that the copies of the petition have been signed by the requisite number of registered voters and forward the copies of the petition with his or her certificate attached to the Secretary of State.

If the county elections official finds that the copies of the petition are not signed by the requisite number of registered voters residing within the county he or she shall certify to the number of registered voters required to make the petition sufficient. Within 20 days from the date of that certificate, copies of the petition containing additional signatures secured either by the same persons theretofore appointed to secure signatures or by other persons appointed by the board of supervisors for that purpose may be filed with the county elections official.

The county elections official shall within 30 days after the filing of the supplemental copies of the petition examine and verify each of the signatures thereon and certify to the result of the examination as he or she did in connection with the original copies of the petition.

If the petition as supplemented contains a sufficient number of signatures the county elections official shall present it with the certificate to that effect attached to the Secretary of State without delay.

If the certificate of the county elections official shows that any petition as originally filed or as supplemented is insufficient he or she shall so certify and the petition with the certificate attached shall be filed with the Secretary of State and kept by the Secretary of State as a public record, without prejudice however, to the filing of a new petition to the same effect.