168.482b Summary of purpose of the proposed amendment or question; requirements; approval by the board of state canvassers; form.

Sec. 482b.

    (1) A person who circulates a petition under section 482 may, before circulating any petition, submit the summary of the purpose of the proposed amendment or question proposed that is required under section 482(3) to the board of state canvassers for approval as to the content of the summary. The board of state canvassers must issue an approval or rejection of the content of the summary not more than 30 days after the summary is submitted. The board of state canvassers may not consider a challenge to the sufficiency of a submitted petition on the basis of the summary being misleading or deceptive if that summary was approved before circulation of the petition.

    (2) If a person submits the summary of the purpose of the proposed amendment or question proposed as provided in subsection (1), all of the following apply:

    (a) The summary of the purpose of the proposed amendment or question proposed must be prepared by the director of elections, with the approval of the board of state canvassers.

    (b) The summary is limited to not more than 100 words and must consist of a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the proposed amendment or question proposed in language that does not create prejudice for or against the proposed amendment or question proposed.

    (c) The summary must be worded so as to apprise the petition signers of the subject matter of the proposed amendment or question proposed, but does not need to be legally precise.

    (d) The summary must be clearly written using words that have a common everyday meaning to the general public.

    (3) If the board of state canvassers approves the summary of the purpose of the proposed amendment or question proposed, the person who circulates the petition under section 482 shall print the full text of the approved summary in 12-point type in the place required by section 482(3).