(1) The ballot title of any measure, other than a state measure, to be initiated or referred shall consist of:
(a) A caption of not more than 10 words which reasonably identifies the subject of the measure;
(b) A question of not more than 20 words which plainly phrases the chief purpose of the measure so that an affirmative response to the question corresponds to an affirmative vote on the measure; and
(c) A concise and impartial statement of not more than 175 words summarizing the measure and its major effect.
(2) The ballot title of any state measure to be initiated or referred shall consist of:
(a) A caption of not more than 15 words that reasonably identifies the subject matter of the state measure. The caption of an initiative or referendum amendment to the Constitution shall begin with the phrase, “Amends Constitution,” which shall not be counted for purposes of the 15-word caption limit;
(b) A simple and understandable statement of not more than 25 words that describes the result if the state measure is approved. The statement required by this paragraph shall include either the phrase, “I vote” or “vote yes,” or a substantially similar phrase, which may be placed at any point within the statement;
(c) A simple and understandable statement of not more than 25 words that describes the result if the state measure is rejected. The statement required by this paragraph shall not describe existing statutory or constitutional provisions in a way that would lead an average elector to believe incorrectly that one of those provisions would be repealed by approval of the state measure, if approval would not have that result. Any thing or action described both in the statement required by paragraph (b) of this subsection and in the statement required by this paragraph shall be described using the same terms in both statements, to the extent practical. Any different terms must be terms that an average elector would understand to refer to the same thing or action. The statement shall include either the phrase, “I vote” or “vote no,” or a substantially similar phrase, which may be placed at any point within the statement; and
(d) A concise and impartial statement of not more than 125 words summarizing the state measure and its major effect.
(3) The statements required by subsection (2)(b) and (c) of this section shall be written so that, to the extent practicable, the language of the two statements is parallel.
(4) The statement required by subsection (2)(b) of this section shall be written so that an affirmative response to the statement corresponds to an affirmative vote on the state measure.
(5) The statement required by subsection (2)(c) of this section shall be written so that an affirmative response to the statement corresponds to a negative vote on the state measure.
(6) To avoid confusion, a ballot title shall not resemble any title previously filed for a measure to be submitted at that election.
(7) In the statements required by subsection (2)(b), (c) and (d) of this section, reasonable discretion shall be allowed in the use of articles and conjunctions, but the statements shall not omit articles and conjunctions that are necessary to avoid confusion to or misunderstanding by an average elector. [1979 c.190 §143; 1979 c.675 §1; 1985 c.405 §1; 1987 c.556 §1; 1987 c.875 §1; 1995 c.534 §1; 1997 c.541 §312; 1999 c.793 §1; 2001 c.104 §78]
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