12 LC 36
1977
House
Bill 849
By:
Representatives Amerson of the
9th,
Rogers of the
26th,
Kidd of the
141st,
Lindsey of the
54th,
Stephens of the
164th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To
amend Article 3 of Chapter 4 of Title 3 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to local authorization and regulations for manufacture,
distribution, and package sales of distilled spirits, so as to provide that an
election superintendent shall call and hold a referendum upon receipt of a
resolution or ordinance from the governing authority of a municipality or county
desiring to permit or prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of
distilled spirits in the political subdivision; to change certain provisions
relating to procedure for election for the purpose of nullifying a previous
election; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
3 of Chapter 4 of Title 3 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
local authorization and regulations for manufacture, distribution, and package
sales of distilled spirits, is amended by revising Code Section 3-4-41, relating
to a petition for referendum and a notice of call for such referendum, as
follows:
"3-4-41.
(a)
Upon the
approval of a proper resolution or ordinance of any governing authority of a
municipality or county desiring to permit or prohibit the manufacture, sale, and
distribution of distilled spirits in the political subdivision or
upon a written petition containing the
signatures of at least 35 percent of the registered and qualified voters of any
municipality or county being filed with the election superintendent of the
county or municipality, such superintendent,
upon receipt
of the resolution or ordinance or upon
validation of the petition, shall be required to call and hold a referendum
election for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters of the
municipality or county, as the case may be, the question of whether the
manufacture, sale, and distribution of distilled spirits in the political
subdivision shall be permitted or prohibited. Such petition shall not be
amended, supplemented, or returned after its presentation to the appropriate
authority. Validation shall, for the purposes of this Code section, be the
procedure in which the election superintendent determines whether each signature
on the petition is the name of a registered and qualified voter.
(b)
For purposes of this Code section, the required number of signatures of
registered voters of a political subdivision shall be computed based on the
number of voters qualified to vote at the general election immediately preceding
the presentation of the petition. Actual signers of the petition shall be
registered and qualified to vote in the referendum election sought by the
petition. Upon determining that the petition contains a sufficient number of
valid signatures, the election superintendent shall set the date of the
referendum election for not less than 30 nor more than 60 days after the call.
The referendum may be held as a special referendum election or may be held at
the time of holding any other primary or election in such county or municipality
if such other primary or election is to be held not more than 60 days after the
call.
(c)
Notice of the call for the referendum shall be published by the election
superintendent in the official organ of the county or, in the case of a
municipality, in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The
election superintendent shall also cause the date and purpose of the referendum
to be published in the official organ of the county or, in the case of a
municipality, in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, once a
week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of the election.
(d)
Following the expiration of two years after any election is held which results
in the disapproval of sales as provided in this article, another election on
this question shall be held if another
resolution,
ordinance, or petition, as provided in
subsection (a) of this Code section, is filed with the appropriate election
superintendent."
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended by revising Code Section 3-4-47, relating to
procedure for election for the purpose of nullifying a previous election, as
follows:
"3-4-47.
(a)
In any county or municipality which has at any time held an election in
accordance with this article, resulting in the approval of the issuance of
licenses for the package sales of distilled spirits, the election superintendent
of the county or municipality shall, upon
receipt of a
proper resolution or ordinance from the governing authority of the political
subdivision concerned or a petition signed
by at least 35 percent of the registered qualified voters of the political
subdivision concerned, proceed to call another election in the same manner as
provided in this article for the purpose of nullifying the previous election
result.
(b)
No election held pursuant to this Code section shall be called or held within
two years after the date of the declaration of the result of the previous
election held for such purpose under this article."
SECTION
3.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.