P.R. Laws tit. 20, § 546q
Within thirty (30) days after this act takes effect, and for the indicated purpose, the Board of Examiners shall name a Referendum Committee comprised by fifteen (15) members who are opticians, with representation from all Senate Districts of Puerto Rico.
The Referendum Committee shall be chaired by the President of the Board of Examiners and shall have the main duties of giving orientation to all opticians regarding the referendum, its motives and consequences, and of holding same pursuant to the provisions herein. The Referendum Committee shall design and adopt mechanisms, regulations, ballots and procedures deemed necessary for consultation and scrutiny. The Referendum Committee shall be supervised in all functions by the Board of Examiners, and its decisions shall be final.
Upon the designation of the Referendum Committee, the Board of Examiners shall provide said Committee with a list including the name, address and license number of each optician authorized to practice the profession in Puerto Rico and entitled to membership in the Association. Within forty-five (45) days after its designation, the Referendum Committee shall proceed to consult said opticians by certified mail with copy through regular mail for the referendum to be held pursuant to this section. The consultation of each optician shall enclose a copy of this act. In addition, the consultation of each optician shall be preceded by the publication of a notification stating that the referendum shall be held and for which purpose. Said publication shall be issued on at [least] two (2) occasions, in one (1) newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico. Only replies received within thirty (30) days from the publication of the last notification of the holding of the referendum and its purposes shall be valid and scrutinized. The replies shall only be affirmative or negative rather than conditional, and shall be written and signed, indicating the license number, by the consulted member on the ballot. The ballots shall be delivered by hand or sent by mail to the Referendum Committee at the address indicated by same on the ballot, and shall be subject to the free inspection of any optician who requests to do so from the Referendum Commission, under whose custody said ballots shall remain until the first meeting of the Constitution Assembly in the event of an affirmative result for the association, or until such a date as set forth by regulation in the event of a negative result.
For the approval of compulsory membership, the affirmative vote of one half plus one of the opticians authorized to practice the optics profession in Puerto Rico is hereby required. After the scrutiny by the Referendum Committee concludes, it shall remit the results in writing to the Governor of Puerto Rico and to the Board of Examiners. The Referendum Committee is hereby authorized to receive donations to defray the expenses of the referendum set forth herein.
History —Sept. 3, 2003, No. 245, § 19.