New Carrollton                                  2287

more than sixty days after the final passage of the resolution [.] setting
the date of said election. In the resolution, the exact wording shall be
specified which is to be placed on the ballots or voting machines when the
question is submitted to the voters of the municipal corporation. If the
question is approved by a majority of the voters at the election, the Coun-
cil shall proceed immediately to enact the ordinance or resolution. [Any
ordinance, or part thereof, disapproved by the voters, shall stand repealed.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to any ordinance, or part
thereof, levying property taxes for the payment of indebtedness, but the
provisions of this section shall apply to any ordinance, or any part thereof,
levying special assessment charges. The provisions of this section shall
be self-executing.]

[27] c. Council Enactment. [Provided, however, that if the legis-
lative body] If the Council shall approve of the ordinance or resolution
provided for in the petition, [it] the Council shall have the right by
resolution to pass the ordinance or resolution [thereby] proposed by the
initiative petition and to proceed thereafter in the same manner as if the
ordinance or resolution had been initiated by such legislative body.

SECTION 21. RECALL OF ELECTED OFFICIALS.

a.   Application. The holder of any elective office of the City shall be
subject to recall by a majority of the qualified voters of the City for
failure to perform the duties of his office as such duties are set forth
in this Charter.

b.    Petition. If a petition signed by not less than twenty-five percent
(25%) of the qualified registered voters of the City shall be presented to
the Board of Elections, setting forth that the officeholder in question has
failed to perform the duties of his office and specifying the instances of
such failure and requesting an election to vote upon the recall of the office-
holder, the Board of Elections shall immediately pass upon the legal suffi-
ciency thereof, and shall verify that the petition has been signed by the
required number of qualified registered voters. Each person signing the
petition shall indicate thereon both his name, and residence address. The
Council shall consider the petition as of no effect if it is signed by fewer
than twenty-five percent (25%) of the persons who are qualified to vote
in municipal elections. A minor variation in the signature of a petitioner
between his signature on a petition and that on the City voter registration
records shall not invalidate the signature. The invalidation of one signa-
ture on a petition shall not serve to invalidate any others. If the petition
fails to contain the required number of valid signatures, as determined
by the Board of Elections, the petitioners may submit as an amendment
to their original petition the additional number of valid signatures to meet
the requirements of this section.

c.    Effect of Petition. If the Board of Elections shall determine that
the petition meets all the requirements of this section, the Council shall, by
resolution, specify the day and the hours for a special election to be held,
not more than forty-five (45) calendar days from the date said resolution
is adopted. The resolution shall specify the exact wording of the question
which is to appear on the ballot The ballot question shall include the
name of the officeholder in question, the office which he holds, and shall
request a "yes" or a "no" vote as to his removal from that office. The
ballot question shall not specify, or in any way refer to or imply, the
reasons for which removal is being sought.