Sec. 54-124. Petition requirements.
(a) At the top of each page of every initiative or referendum petition circulated within the city relating to a municipal ordinance, the following shall be printed, in plain red letters no smaller than the impression of ten-point boldfaced type:
"WARNING:
IT IS AGAINST THE LAW:
For anyone to sign any initiative or referendum petition with any name other than his or her own or to knowingly sign his or her name more than once for the same measure or to knowingly sign a petition when not a registered elector who is eligible to vote on the measure.
DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION UNLESS YOU ARE A
REGISTERED ELECTOR
AND ELIGIBLE TO VOTE ON THIS MEASURE.TO BE A REGISTERED ELECTOR,
YOU MUST BE A CITIZEN OF Colorado
AND REGISTERED TO VOTE.Do not sign this petition unless you have read or have had read to you the proposed initiative or referred measure or the summary in its entirety and understand its meaning."
(b) A summary of the proposed initiated measure or of the ordinance that is the subject of a referendum petition shall be printed following the warning on each page of a petition section. The summary shall be true and impartial and shall not be an argument, or likely to create prejudice, either for or against the measure. The summary shall be prepared by the city clerk.
(c) The full text of the proposed initiated measure or of the ordinance that is the subject of a referendum petition shall be printed following the summary on the first page or pages of the petition section that precede the signature pages. Notwithstanding the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section, if the text of the proposed initiated measure or ordinance requires more than one page of a petition section, the warning and summary need not appear at the top of other than the initial text page. The signature pages shall have their ruled lines numbered consecutively and shall be attached to a complete copy of what is proposed to be initiated or referred, printed in plain block letters no smaller than the impression of ten-point type.
(d) Each petition shall designate by name and address not fewer than three or more than five persons who shall represent the signers thereof in all matters affecting the petition and who shall be registered electors of the City. All sections of any such petitions shall be prenumbered serially, and the circulation of any petition described by this article by any medium other than personally by a circulator is prohibited. Any petition that fails to conform to the requirements of this article or that is circulated in a manner other than that permitted in this section shall be invalid.
(e) Following the signature pages of each petition section, there shall be attached a signed, notarized, and dated affidavit executed by the person who circulated the petition section, which shall include the following:
(1) The circulator's printed name, the address at which the circulator resides, including the street name and number, the municipality, the county, and the date the circulator signed the affidavit;
(2) That the circulator has read and understands the laws governing the circulation of petition;
(3) That the circulator was 18 years of age or older at the time the section of the petition was circulated and signed by the listed electors;
(4) That the circulator personally circulated the section of the petition;
(5) That each signature thereon was affixed in the circulator's presence;
(6) That each signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be;
(7) That, to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief, each of the persons signing the petition section was, at the time of signing, a registered elector; and
(8) That the circulator has not paid or will not in the future pay and that the circulator believes that no other person has paid or will pay, directly or indirectly any money or thing of value to any signer for the purpose of inducing or causing such signer to affix the signer's signature to the petition.
(f) Any petition which has attached thereto an affidavit of a registered elector that each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be and that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the affiant each of the persons signing such petition section was at the time of signing a registered elector shall be prima facie evidence that the signatures thereon are genuine and true and that the persons signing the petition are registered electors.
(g) The city clerk shall not accept for filing any section of a petition that does not have attached thereto the notarized affidavit required by subparagraph (e) of this section. Any disassembly of a section the petition that has the effect of separating the affidavit from the signature page or pages shall render that section of the petition invalid and of no force and effect. Any signature added to a section of a petition after the affidavit has been executed shall be invalid.