Howard County Citizens for Open Government v. Howard County Board of Elections

In their County Charter, the voters of Howard County have reserved to themselves the right to right to refer laws of their County Council to referendum. For a referendum question to secure a place on the ballot, petitions containing the signatures of at least 5,000 of the County’s registered voters must be filed within sixty days of the passage of the ordinance in question. The filing deadline may be extended for an additional thirty days if the sponsor of the referendum effort submits petitions containing at least 50% of the required signatures within the initial deadline.

Howard County…