§ 168.477Petition and initiative petition; official declaration of sufficiency or insufficiency

by board of state canvassers; publication of statement of purpose; expense; effectiveness
 of law that is subject of referendum.
 Sec. 477.
    (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the board of state canvassers shall make
 an official declaration of the sufficiency or insufficiency of a petition under this chapter at
 least 2 months before the election at which the proposal is to be submitted. The board of state
 canvassers shall make an official declaration of the sufficiency or insufficiency of an initiative
 petition no later than 100 days before the election at which the proposal is to be submitted.
 The board of state canvassers may not count toward the sufficiency of a petition described in
 this section any valid signature of a registered elector from a congressional district submitted
 on that petition that is above the 15% limit described in section 471. If the board of state
 canvassers declares that the petition is sufficient, the secretary of state shall send copies of the



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 statement of purpose of the proposal as approved by the board of state canvassers to the
 several daily and weekly newspapers published in this state, with the request that the
 newspapers give as wide publicity as possible to the proposed amendment or other question.
 Publication of any matter by any newspaper under this section must be without expense or
 cost to this state.
    (2) For the purposes of the second paragraph of section 9 of article II of the state
 constitution of 1963, a law that is the subject of the referendum continues to be effective until
 the referendum is properly invoked, which occurs when the board of state canvassers makes
 its official declaration of the sufficiency of the referendum petition. The board of state
 canvassers shall complete the canvass of a referendum petition within 60 days after the
 petition is filed with the secretary of state, except that 1 15-day extension may be granted by
 the secretary of state if necessary to complete the canvass.