County Initiatives

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The Sonoma County Registrar of Voters is the elections official for county initiatives. California law prescribes certain deadlines for the initiative process. Please refer to the appropriate code sections or consult a lawyer for advice about the deadlines.

Deadline	Step	Elections Code
	Proponents file notice of intention to circulate petition with Registrar of Voters Office and pay $200 filing fee.	9103
Within 15 days of filing notice of intention	County counsel files ballot title/summary with Registrar of Voters Office.	9105
*	Proponents publish notice of intention and ballot title/summary in a newspaper of general circulation, and provide proof of publication to Registrar of Voters Office.	9105
After publication of notice intention and ballot title/summary in a newspaper of general circulation	Proponents can begin circulating initiative petition. For number of signatures required, see EC 9118 and California Constitution, Article 13C, Section 3.	9105, 9108
Within 180 days of proponents receiving ballot title and summary	Proponents file initiative petition signatures with Registrar of Voters Office.	9110
Either: Within 30 days of filing (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) if full check is not required OR Within 90 days of filing (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) if full check is required	Registrar of Voters Office examines initiative petition and determines how many signatures are valid and if number is sufficient to qualify initiative for the ballot. If 500 or fewer signatures are submitted, Registrar of Voters Office has 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) to verify all signatures. If number of valid signatures is found to be less than number needed, Registrar of Voters certifies petition to be insufficient and no further action is taken. If number of valid signatures is found to be greater than or equal to number needed, Registrar of Voters certifies petition to be sufficient and takes next step. If greater than 500 signatures are submitted, Registrar of Voters Office has 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) to verify a random sampling of 500 signatures or 3 percent of the signatures submitted (whichever number is greater). If number of valid signatures in sample is found to be less than 95% of number needed, Registrar of Voters Office certifies petition to be insufficient and no further action is taken. If number of valid signatures in sample is found to be between 95% and 110% of number needed, Registrar of Voters Office shall, within 90 days form the date the petition was filed (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays), verify all signatures submitted. If number of valid signatures is found to be less than number needed, Registrar of Voters certifies petition to be insufficient and no further action is taken. If number of valid signatures is found to be greater than or equal to number needed, Registrar of Voters certifies petition to be sufficient and takes next step. If number of valid signatures in sample is found to be greater than 110% of number needed, Registrar of Voters certifies petition to be sufficient and takes next step.	9115
Next regular Board of Supervisors meeting after petition has been certified as sufficient (see previous step).	Registrar of Voters certifies sufficiency of petition at next regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Board can take one of three actions: Adopt ordinance without alteration within 10 days. Submit ordinance to go before voters at either: The next statewide election occurring not less than 88 days after date of order of election. A special election taking place between 88 and 103 days after date of order of election. Order report, due within 30 days, after which Board of Supervisors can adopt ordinance or submit it to voters.	4105, 9111, 9115, 9118

* There is no specific deadline for publication of the notice of intention and ballot title/summary in a newspaper of general circulation (or filing proof of publication with the Registrar of Voters Office). However, EC 9105(b) says this must happen before proponents begin circulating the petition.