Chapter 4. Formation Petition of California Water Code >> Division 20. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 4.

A petition for the formation of a district, which may consist of any number of separate instruments, shall be filed with the county elections official.

The formation petition shall be signed by voters equal in number to at least 10 per centum of the voters registered within the boundaries of the proposed district 30 days prior to the date the petition is filed. If one or more cities are included in the proposed district, the formation petition shall, in addition, be signed by at least 10 percent of the voters of each such city registered to vote 30 days prior to the date the petition is filed.

If only a portion of the corporate area of a city is included within a proposed district, and 12 or more registered voters reside within such portion of the city, the formation petition shall be signed by voters residing within such portion equal in number to at least 10 percent of the total number of registered voters in such portion, or 10 percent of the number of voters of such portion voting for all candidates for the office of Governor at the last general election prior to the filing of the petition, whichever is the lesser number. If less than 12 registered voters reside within such portion of the city, the formation petition shall be signed by at least 50 percent of the voters residing in such portion.

The formation petition shall describe the boundaries of the proposed district and shall contain a prayer that the proposed district be formed pursuant to this division.

Except as otherwise authorized in this part, the boundaries of the proposed district shall be described in the formation petition in the same manner as in the declaration of intention and shall include the same area.

The circulation of a formation petition shall be commenced by the proponents within 30 days from the date of the filing of the declaration of intention with the county elections official. The petition shall be circulated and filed with the county elections official within 90 days from the date of the filing of the declaration of intention.

Within 30 days of the date of the filing of the formation petition, the county elections official shall examine the petition and determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of voters. Upon request of the county elections official, the board of supervisors shall authorize him or her to employ persons specially for this purpose, in addition to the persons regularly employed in his or her office, and shall provide for their compensation.

When the county elections official has completed the examination of the formation petition, he or she shall attach to it the certificate, properly dated, showing the result of the examination.

If the county elections official finds from the examination that the formation petition is signed by the requisite number of voters residing within the boundaries of the proposed district, and within the boundaries of each city included therein, he or she shall certify that the petition is sufficient. If he or she finds that it is not so signed, he or she shall certify that the petition is insufficient.

If the county elections official certifies in the certificate that the formation petition is insufficient, he or she shall also certify therein to the number of voters required to make the petition sufficient, and the petition may be amended by filing a supplemental petition or petitions within 10 days from the date of the certificate.

Within 30 days after the filing of any supplemental petition or petitions, the county elections official shall examine them and certify to the result of the examination as provided in Sections 71126 to 71128, inclusive.

If any supplemental petition is filed, all the signatures on the original and supplemental petitions shall be considered in determining the number of voters signing the petition.

After the time for filing supplemental petitions has expired and all supplemental petitions have been examined, if the county elections official's certificate shows that the formation petition is insufficient, the petition shall be filed with the board of supervisors and kept as a public record, without prejudice to the filing of a new petition.

If the county elections official's certificate shows that the formation petition is sufficient, the county elections official shall present the petition to the board of supervisors without delay.

After an election for the formation of a proposed district, the sufficiency of the formation petition shall not be subject to judicial review or be otherwise questioned.