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Bill Tracking - 2011 session> Legislation Page 13 of 15 witness. The petition may be in the form of separate sheets, each sheet containing at the top thereof the petition as set forth above, and when bound together and offered for filing, shall be deemed to constitute one petition. 9 12.02. Petition for Referendum. a. At any time within thirty days following the adoption of an ordinance, except an emergency ordinance, a petition signed by electors equal in number to at least thirty percent (30%) of the electors voting for governor in the last preceding gubernatorial election protesting against the enactment of such ordinance and requesting its repeal, may be presented to the City Council. Such petition need not contain the text of the ordinance sought to be repealed, but it shall be sufficient to refer to it by ordinance number or code section number. b. The petition shall be substantially in thefollowingform: To the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia: We, the undersigned, qualified electors of this city, respectjitlly petition your honorable body to repeal the following ordinance: Signature of Elector Street Address Date Signed c. The execution of the petition by an elector shall be acknowledged before a notary, or it may be proved by the oath of a witness who shall swear that he or she knows the elector and that the petition was signed by the elector in the presence of the witness. The separate sheets, each sheet containing at the top thereof the petition as set forth above, and when bound together and offered for filing, shall be deemed to constitute one petition. 9 12.03. Time of Filing. All papers comprising a Petition for Initiative or Referendum shall be filed with the City Clerk thirty days from the date of the first signature thereon, and when so filed, the Clerk shall submit the same to the City Council at its next regular meeting. 9 12.04. Duty of City Attorney. Before any ordinance proposed by petition in accordance with 912.01 hereofshall be submitted to the City Council, it shall first be approved as to form by the City Attorney. If the City Attorney disapproves of the proposed ordinance or amendment, the reasons therefore shall be stated in writing to the person submitting the proposal for examination. 912.05. Duty of City Council. Upon the presentation of a petition as provided in this Chapter, it shall be the duty of the City Council either to pass such proposed ordinance without alteration or repeal such existing ordinance within sixty days after determining the sufficiency of the petition or submit the question of the adoption or repeal of the ordinance, as the case may be, to the electorate at the next general election occurring more than sixty days after determining the sufficiency of the petition. S 12.06. Elections. a. All initiative and referendum elections shall be conducted, and the result canvassed and certified by the regular election officials, as provided by the general laws of the state, and except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, all such elections shall be governed by the general election laws. b. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on a proposed ordinance shall vote in favor thereof, it shall thereupon become a valid and binding ordinance of the city, and the same shall not be repealed or amended, except by a vote of the electors, within two years thereafter. c. If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the repeal of an existing ordinance shall vote in favor of its repeal, it shall thereupon stand repealed and be of no force and effect. d. Where an election has been held upon the question of the adoption or repeal of any ordinance in accordance with this Chapter, then no election may be held upon a substantially similar question for two years folloWing such election, except that the council may submit the repeal, amendment or modification of any ordinance adopted under subsection b. above, to be voted upon at any general election succeeding its adoption. http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?l11 +ful+CHAP0640 6/30/2011