§ 211. The referendum.
(a)
Scope of the referendum. The people of Howard County reserve to themselves the power known as "The Referendum," by petition to have submitted to the registered voters of the County to approve or reject at the polls, any law or a part of any law of the Council. The referendum petition against any such law shall be sufficient if signed by five per centum of the qualified voters of the County calculated upon the whole number of votes cast in the County for Governor at the last preceding gubernatorial election. Such petition shall be filed with the Board of Supervisors of Elections of Howard County within sixty days after the law is enacted. If such a petition is filed as aforesaid, the law or part thereof to be referred shall not take effect until thirty days after its approval by a majority of the qualified voters of the County voting thereon at the next ensuing election held for members of the House of Representatives of the United States; provided, however, that if more than one-half but less than the full number of signatures required to complete any referendum petition against such law be filed within sixty days from the date it is enacted, the time for the law to take effect and the time for filing the remainder of signatures to complete the petition shall be extended for an additional thirty days. Any emergency measure shall remain in force from the date it becomes law notwithstanding the filing of such petition, but shall stand repealed thirty days after having been rejected by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon. No law making any appropriation for current expenses shall be subject to rejection or repeal under this section.
(b)
Form of petition. A petition may consist of several papers, but each paper shall contain a fair summary of the Act or the part of the Act petitioned upon; and there shall be attached to each such paper an affidavit of the person procuring the signatures thereon that, to the said person's own personal knowledge, each signature thereon is genuine and bona fide, and that to the best of his or her knowledge, information and belief the signers are registered voters of the State of Maryland and Howard County, as set opposite their names. The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall verify the registration of said petitioners.