On Monday, September 23, 2024, the City received a referendum petition that would require the Governing Body to either pass an ordinance to repeal sections of the Salina City Code related to Breed Specific Regulations or call for a special election for voter consideration of the ordinance. For the petition to be valid, the Saline County Election Officer must validate the signatures in accordance with K.S.A. 25-3601. The petition was delivered to the Saline County Election Officer on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.
According to K.S.A. 12-3013, the petition would need to be signed by electors equal to 25% of those who voted in the preceding regular City election, requiring 1,391 signatures in this instance. On Monday, September 30, 2024, the Saline County Election Officer certified that the required number of signatures was not met. Of the 1,814 signatures submitted, only 1,369 were accepted, with 445 signatures being rejected for reasons including unregistered voters, mismatched names or signatures, canceled voter registrations, and incorrect districts. This left the petition 22 signatures short of the required number.
Under K.S.A. 25-3602, the petitioner is not permitted to submit additional signatures to make up the shortfall. Therefore, the petition will not move forward, and the ordinance related to Breed Specific Regulations will remain in place.