D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, r. 3-1005

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 37, September 13, 2024

Rule 3-1005 - FILING PETITIONS

1005.1

All pages of an initiative petition shall be submitted in hard copy for filing no later than 5:00 p.m. on the one hundred and eightieth (180th) calendar day following the date upon which the Board provided the original petition form. All pages of a referendum petition shall be submitted in hard copy for filing no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last business day before the act, or any part of the act, which is the subject of the referendum has become law. A petition, or any sheet comprising the petition, that is not timely submitted shall not be accepted for filing.

1005.2

All timely submitted petitions shall be received by the Executive Director or his or her designee. When a petition is offered for filing, the Executive Director shall:

(a) Count the petition pages and issue a receipt for the total number of petition pages submitted;

(b) Shall serially number the pages and obliterate any blank lines appearing on each petition page; and

(c) Prepare an initial total count, broken down by ward, of the signatures submitted pursuant to the rules of this section.

1005.3

A signature shall not be accepted, and shall not be included in the Executive Director's initial total count, if it:

(a) Appears on a page that is not a proper reproduction of the paper form provided by the Board;

(b) Appears on a page which does not have a completed circulator affidavit;

(c) Appears on a page that was circulated by an individual who is not a qualified petition circulator; or

(d) Is the signature of a registered voter who submitted a notarized request to disallow his or her signature from being counted on the petition, provided that the request was received prior to the time the petition is filed.

1005.4

If the initial total count indicates that a petition contains at least five percent (5%) of registered qualified electors in the District, the Executive Director shall accept the petition, post the petition for public inspection and challenge, and proceed with registration verification of petition signers in accordance with the rules of this chapter. If the petition does not contain at least five percent (5%) of registered qualified electors in the District, the Executive Director shall refuse to accept the petition and shall notify the proposer(s) in writing of the refusal.

1005.5

If the accepted petition is for a referendum, the Executive Director shall request that the custodian of the act return it to the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia.

1005.6

Within ten (10) days after a refusal, the proposer(s) of a rejected initiative or referendum petition may petition the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for a writ in the nature of mandamus to compel the Board to accept the petition. The Board shall retain the submitted petition pending appeal.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, r. 3-1005

Final Rulemaking published at 43 DCR 103 (January 12, 1996); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 60 DCR 5582 (April 12, 2013); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 61 DCR 625 (January 24, 2014); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 65 DCR 5644 (5/18/2018); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 70 DCR15793 (12/15/2023)

Authority: D.C. Official Code § 1-1001.05(a)(14).