A. To be sufficient a petition must contain valid signatures of qualified registered voters, as determined by the county auditor, in the number required by Bellingham City Charter Section 10.02.

B. Petitions containing the required number of signatures shall be accepted as prima facie valid until their invalidity has been proved.

C. A variation on petitions between the signatures on the petition and that on the voter’s permanent registration caused by the substitution of initials instead of the first or middle names, or both, shall not invalidate the signature on the petition if the surname and handwriting are the same.

D. If the county auditor finds the same name signed to more than one petition, he or she shall reject all but the first such valid signature.

E. Signatures followed by a date of signing that is more than six months prior to the date of filing of the signed initiative petition shall be stricken.

F. The county auditor shall verify the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition and shall transmit the written certificate of sufficiency or insufficiency to the city finance director with whom the petition was originally filed. [Ord. 2006-05-042].