Referendum procedure

(1) Time of holding. All referendums shall be conducted in any calendar year at the same time as and simultaneous with the election of officers and members of the board of governors of the state bar. (2) Time for filing request. In order to be submitted to the membership in the regularly scheduled spring elections, petitions for referendum initiated by members of the state bar must be filed at the state bar headquarters no later than the first business day in January. Nothing in this rule is intended to prohibit the submission of referendum petitions at any time in the preceding calendar year after the completion of state bar elections for that year. Any referendum authorized by the board of governors shall be authorized on or before February 28 of the calendar year in which the referendum is to be held. (3) Subject matter of referendum. (a) A referendum may inquire as to the opinion of members on any matter of public policy which is properly the subject of any action by the association, including proposals for change in the rules or bylaws of the association, except no referendum may be held on administrative or personnel matters and expenses or retroactively on dues. (b) The same substantive question shall not be submitted to the members by referendum more frequently than one time in two calendar years. (4) Governors may initiate. The board of governors may, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its membership, refer to the active members of the association for determination by mail ballot any appropriate question of public policy, as provided in sub. (3). 18 (5) Members may initiate by petition. When required by petition as set forth herein, the board of governors shall submit for determination by the members of the association any question appropriate for referendum, as provided in sub. (3). (a) The petition shall succinctly and clearly state the question to be submitted by referendum. (b) A referendum must be requested by petitions containing the signatures of 1,000 members of the state bar eligible to vote. (c) Each petition shall contain (i) the member's signature and full name clearly printed or typed, (ii) the address of the member's principal office for the practice of law and (iii) the date on which the petition was signed. (d) Each petition shall be circulated by an active member in good standing of the state bar. (e) The petitions shall be verified by the circulator who shall swear that the circulator personally obtained all signatures set forth on the petition and knows them to be members of the state bar as represented therein. (f) The 1,000 signatures required shall include not less than 50 signatures from each of six separate districts from which members of the state bar board of governors are elected. (g) All signatures must be obtained within a period of ninety days before the date the petition is filed. (h) The petition shall designate the person to be notified of any insufficiency or improper form under sub. (7). (j) Members can obtain a petition form from the executive director. (k) Non-resident members are considered to reside in a single, non-resident district. (6) Procedure for filing petition. (a) The petition must be complete when filed with the state bar headquarters. Upon filing, the petition shall be examined by the state bar executive director or his or her designee in order to determine all of the following: 1. Whether the subject of a the question is properly referendum. 2. Whether the signatures are of members of the state bar who are eligible to vote. 3. Whether the signatures satisfy the geographic distribution and time requirements set forth in sub. (5)(f) and (g). 19 4. Whether the petition is otherwise in order as required by this section. (b) The ruling of the executive director shall be communicated to the person designated in the petition as soon as practicable and within 2 weeks after the date on which the petition is filed. (7) Framing the question. Upon receipt by the state bar of a referendum petition as described above and certification by the executive director as to the validity of the petition, the state bar president shall appoint a committee to frame the exact question to be submitted to the members. That committee shall include the person designated in the petition. The committee shall be responsible for framing the question in a form that is clear, intelligible and meaningful. (8) Final certification by board of governors. Any dispute as to the certification of the validity of the petition by the executive director, or the framing of the question by the special committee described above, shall be submitted to the board of governors who shall determine the validity of the petition and the form in which the question shall appear on the referendum ballot. (9) Publication of question. As to all questions to be submitted to the members by referendum, space in a reasonable amount shall be provided to both the proponents and the opponents of the proposition. This space shall be made available without charge in the state bar's official publication one month prior to mailing of the referendum ballots or in another state bar mailing to all eligible voters. State bar mailing lists shall be equally available at the same costs to both proponents and opponents of any referendum. (10) Conduct of election. The mailing of the ballots, the return of the ballots, the counting of the ballots and the reporting of the results shall be conducted in the same manner as set forth in article 3, sections 4 through 8 of the bylaws for the election of the board of governors. (11) Binding effect. A referendum receiving an affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast, provided that at least 25% of the eligible voters vote, shall establish state bar policy until such time as that policy may be changed or modified according to the requirements of supreme court rules or state bar bylaws.