The Vancouver city clerk’s office has turned over referendum petitions bearing thousands of signatures of opponents to the city council’s hefty raises to the Clark County Elections office.
Deputy City Clerk Carrie Lewellen said a staff of three worked Friday to check the validity of the petitions, ensure the signature count per page was accurate, and that the circulators properly signed each petition. Of the 3,753 signatures the petition organizers submitted Thursday, 75 were disqualified, Lewellen said Monday.
Three of the 316 petition sheets had errors and were rejected, resulting in 33 signatures being disqualified. Another 42 signatures were disqualified, mostly because the signers didn’t write the date after signing, she said.
The county auditor now will verify the signatures’ validity and quantity, then return the petition to the city clerk for potential certification. The petition needs about 2,800 valid signatures to qualify for a ballot measure.
