§ 4.04. Filing, examination and certification of petitions.

All papers comprising an initiative or referendum petition shall be assembled and filed with the city secretary as one instrument. Within twenty (20) days after a petition is filed, the city secretary shall determine whether each paper of the petition bears the required affidavit of the circulator and whether the petition is signed by a sufficient number of qualified voters. After completing his examination of the petition, the city secretary shall certify the result thereof to the council at its next regular meeting. If he shall certify that the petition is insufficient he shall set forth in his certificate the particulars in which it is defective and shall at once notify the committee of the petitioners of his findings.