Source: https://ecode360.com/10167509
Timestamp: 2020-08-13 15:24:17
Document Index: 486627544

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 33', '§ 33', '§ 33', 'Art. 25', '§ 8', '§ 1102']

Wicomico County, MD Elections
§ 33-1 Referendum on local law.
§ 33-2 Fees.
§ 33-3 Amendments by petition.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the County Council of Wicomico County as L. Wic. Co., 1965, ch. 3. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Referendum on local laws — See County Charter, Article III.
Election Districts — See Ch. 31.
Referendum — See Md. Const., Art. XVI.
Questions submitted to voters — See Election Law.
Reservation in Charter of power of referendum — See Anno. Code of Md. (1957), Art. 25A, § 8.
To be conducted by Board of Supervisors of Elections. The Board of Supervisors of Elections of the county, established by a public general law, shall constitute a special Board of the Election Supervisors for the conduct of any referendum on any public local law or any part thereof, as provided in Article III, Section 309, of the Charter, including any public local law or any part thereof, authorizing any issue of bonds, certificates of indebtedness, notes or other obligations of the county or renewal thereof.
Petition; form. A petition for a referendum on any public local law, or part thereof, enacted by the Council and subject to referendum under Article III, Section 309, of the Charter shall be composed of one or more sheets, each in substantially the following form:
We, the undersigned registered voters of Wicomico County, Maryland, do hereby petition for a referendum vote on (the full text of the act or the part of the act petitioned upon) entitled "AN ACT (inserting title)," enacted by the County Council of Wicomico County, Maryland, at its (insert number and year) Legislative Session.
Same; signatures, etc. Following such petition, there shall be the signatures of the petitioners who shall be registered voters of the county; opposite the signature of each signer, there shall appear his residential address, including post office, and the district and precinct in which he is registered for voting in the county. Below the signature of each signer, his name shall appear in print or typed lettering. Below the signature on each sheet of such petition, there shall appear an affidavit made before a notary public for the state by the person procuring the signatures thereon that, to said person's own personal knowledge, each signature thereon is genuine and bona fide, and that, to the best of his knowledge, information and belief, the signers are registered voters of the State of Maryland and Wicomico County as set opposite their respective names. All sheets duly filed of a petition for referendum on the same act shall constitute a single petition for a referendum on that act. The total number of signatures of different registered voters attached to the sheets constituting a single petition, shall be 10% of the number of registered voters of the county at the time the petition is filed.
Same; filing. All sheets of a referendum petition shall be filed with the Board of Elections not later than 60 days after enactment of the legislation which is the subject of the referendum.
[Amended 2-15-1978 by Bill No. 1978-6; 3-4-2003 by Bill No. 2003-5]
Same; notification of Council; public notice; holding. The Board of Elections shall promptly notify the Council of any petition so filed with it and whether or not any petition so filed is a valid petition requiring a referendum to be held under the Charter. If notified that the petition so filed is a valid petition requiring referendum to be held under this Charter, the Council shall give public notice, in such manner as it shall determine, that the act is without force and effect, pending the holding of the referendum thereon. However, an emergency measure, as defined in Section 308, Subsection (g), of the County Charter, shall remain in force from the date of its enactment notwithstanding the filing of such petition, but shall stand repealed 30 days after having been rejected by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon. Such referendum shall be held at the next regular or special election (whichever first occurs) in the county for the election of any state or federal officer. The Board shall conduct any such referendum election and shall use the same voting machines or ballots or both as used by it generally for election purposes in the county.
[Amended 3-4-2003 by Bill No. 2003-5]
Form of question on voting machine or ballots. The question on the voting machine or ballot shall appear as follows: "Shall the (insert brief informative description of act) Act become law?" If the referendum relates only to a part of an act, then the question shall appear as follows: "Shall the provisions (identifying them briefly) of the (insert brief informative description of act) Act become law?" The vote shall be by "yes" or "no" on the question.
Return of election returns to Council; public notice. Following the election, the Board of Election Supervisors shall promptly make a return to the Council of the "yes" and "no" votes cast on the question. If the majority of the votes are "yes," the act or part thereof voted upon shall take effect in accordance with the Charter, and if the act is one authorizing the issuance of any bonds, notes, certificates of indebtedness or other obligations of the county or renewals thereof, such return of votes shall constitute an approval by the voters of the issuance of such bonds, notes, certificates of indebtedness or other obligations. Promptly after the return of votes, the Council shall give public notice in such manner as it shall determine, of the result thereof, and if the act or part thereof voted upon is approved, of the effective date thereof.
[Added by L. Wic. Co., 1965, ch. 12]
The Board of Supervisors of Elections of Wicomico County, Maryland may charge and shall be entitled to receive a fee of $1 for furnishing any report or certificate requested by any person, relative to such person's age or other pertinent information; and said Board shall be entitled to a fee of $5 for the verification of the registration of those persons signing applications, relative to the issuance of licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages, or for any other purpose, and all of such fees shall be paid over to the Director of Finance of Wicomico County, Maryland, together with an itemized statement thereof, quarterly, on January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 in each and every year.
[Added 3-4-2003 by Bill No. 2003-5]
The Board of Elections of the county shall constitute a special Board of Elections for the review of any petitions to amend the Charter as provided in Article XI, § 1102, of the Charter.
Petition. The form, content, signors, information provided by signors, circulators and affidavit of circulators of the petition shall be in accordance with the Election Law Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, Title 6.
A petition for the amendment of the Charter may not be filed unless a sufficient number of signatures attached to the petition have been written by the signers within six months of the date when the petition is presented to the Board of Elections.
A petition shall be filed with the Board of Elections not later than the second Monday in August in the year of the election at which the question is to be voted on.
Form of question on voting machine or ballots. The County Attorney shall prepare and certify to the Board each question which shall appear on the ballot. Each question shall be in accordance with the Election Law Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, Title 7.