(a) Except as provided in Section 9309, within 30 days from the date of filing of the petition, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, the district elections official shall examine the petition, and from the records of registration ascertain whether the petition is signed by the requisite number of voters. A certificate showing the results of this examination shall be attached to the petition.
(b) In determining the number of valid signatures, the district elections official may check the signatures against facsimiles of voters’ signatures, provided that the method of preparing and displaying the facsimiles complies with law. A signature shall not be invalidated because of a variation of the signature caused by the substitution of initials for the first or middle name, or both, of the person signing the petition.
(c) The district elections official shall notify the proponents of the petition as to the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition.
(d) If the petition is found insufficient, no further action shall be taken. However, the failure to secure sufficient signatures, shall not preclude the filing of a new petition on the same subject, at a later date.
(e) If the petition is found 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.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 14, Sec. 5. (AB 698) Effective January 1, 2020.)