# Section 5.40 Initiative – Procedures. Any legal voter or organization of legal voters of Whatcom County may file an initiative proposal with the County Auditor, who within five (5) days, excluding Saturday, Sunday and holidays, shall confer with the petitioner to review the proposal as to form and style. The Auditor shall give the proposed initiative a number, which shall thereafter be the identifying number for the measure. The Auditor shall then transmit a copy of the proposal to the Prosecuting Attorney, who within ten (10) days after receipt thereof, in consultation with the petitioner shall formulate a concise statement, posed as a positive question, not to exceed twenty (20) words, which shall express and give a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure. Such concise statement will be the ballot title. The petitioner then has one hundred and twenty (120) days to collect the signatures of the registered voters in the county equal in number to not less than fifteen (15) percent of the votes cast in the county in the last general election. The one hundred and twenty (120) day period shall begin upon receipt of official notification to petitioner(s) by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office either by certified mail or messenger. If the last day for collecting signatures falls on a weekend or legal holiday, then the one hundred and twenty (120) day period shall extend to the end of the next business day. Each petition shall contain the full text of the proposed measure, ordinance or amendment to an ordinance and the ballot title. The Auditor shall verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition and, if it is validated, submit the proposal to the people at the next general election that is not less than one hundred and twenty (120) days after the registering of the petition, unless the County Council enacts the proposal without change or amendment. If the County Council does not adopt the proposed measure and adopts a substitute measure concerning the same subject matter, the substitute proposal shall be placed on the same ballot with the initiative proposal; and the voters shall be given the choice of accepting either or rejecting both and shall then be given the choice of accepting one and rejecting the other. If a majority of those voting on the first issue is for accepting either, then the measure receiving the majority of the votes cast on the second issue shall be deemed approved. If a majority of those voting on the first issue is for rejecting both, then neither measure shall be approved regardless of the vote on the second issue. (Amended by referendum 1986; Ord. 93-046 (part); amended by referendum 1995)