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CHAPTER 5 <br /> INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL <br /> Section 5.1. Powers Reserved by the People. The people of the City of Ramsey reserve to <br /> _ themselves the powers in accordance with the provisions of this charter to initiate and adopt <br /> ordinances, to require ordinances passed by the council to be referred to the electorate for <br /> approval or disapproval, and to recall elected public officials. These powers shall be called the <br /> initiative, the referendum, and the recall, respectively. <br /> Section 5.2. General Provisions for Petitions. A petition provided for under this chapter shall <br /> _ be sponsored by a committee of five registered voters of the city whose names and addresses <br /> shall appear on the petition. A petition may consist of one or more papers, but each separately <br /> circulated paper shall contain at its head, or attached thereto, the information specified in sections <br /> 5.5., 5.7. or 5.8. which apply, respectively, to initiative, referendum and recall. Each signer <br /> shall be a registered voter of the city and shall sign his/her name and give his/her street address. <br /> Each separate page of the petition shall have appended to it a certificate by the circulator, verified <br /> by oath, that each signature appended thereto was made in his/her presence and that the circulator <br /> believes them to be the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. The <br /> person making the certificate shall be a resident of the city and registered to vote. Any person <br /> whose name appears on a petition may withdraw his/her name by a statement in writing filed <br /> with the clerk-administrator before said clerk-administrator advises the council of the sufficiency <br /> of the petition. <br /> Section 5.3. Determination of Sufficiency. The committee shall file the completed petition in <br /> the office of the clerk-administrator. The required number of signatures for initiative and <br /> referendum shall be at least ten percent of the total number of registered voters at the time of the <br /> last city-wide election. The required number of signatures for recall shall be at least twenty <br /> percent of the total number of registered voters at the time of the last city-wide election. <br /> Immediately upon receipt of the petition, the clerk:-administrator shall examine the petition as to <br /> its sufficiency and report to the council within ten days. Upon receiving the report, the council <br /> shall determine by resolution the sufficiency of the petition. <br /> Section 5.4. Disposition of Insufficient or Irregular Petition. If the council determines that <br /> the petition is insufficient or irregular, as defined in sections 5.3. and 5.2. respectively, the clerk- <br /> _ a4rstratu shall deliver a copy of the petition, together with a written statement of its defects, <br /> to the sponsoring committee. The committee shall have thirty days in which to file additional <br /> signature papers and/or to correct the petition in all other particulars, except that, in the case of a <br /> petition for recall, the committee may not change the statement of the grounds on which the <br /> recall is sought. Within five days of receipt of the corrected petition, the clerk-administrator <br /> shall again report to the council. If the council finds that the petition is still insufficient or <br /> irregular, the clerk-administrator shall file the petition in his/her office and notify the sponsoring <br /> committee. The final finding that the petition is insufficient or irregular shall not prejudice the <br /> filing of a new petition for the same purpose, nor shall it prevent the council from referring the <br /> subject matter of the petition to the voters at the next regular or special election. <br /> 9 <br />