The question of reclassification of a public utility district that has or had a license from the federal power commission to construct a hydroelectric project of an estimated cost of more than two hundred fifty million dollars, including interest during construction, or has a population of five hundred thousand or more, as a five commissioner public utility district shall be submitted to the voters if a petition proposing the change is filed with the county auditor of the county in which the district is located, identifying the district by number and praying that an election be held to determine whether it shall become a five commissioner district. The petition must be signed by a number of registered voters of the district equal to at least ten percent of the number of registered voters in the district who voted at the last general election and include each signer's residence address.

The petition shall be filed with the county auditor for verification of the validity of the signatures. Within thirty days after receipt of the petition, the county auditor shall determine the sufficiency of the petition. If the petition is found insufficient, the person who filed the same shall be notified by mail and he or she shall have an additional fifteen days from the date of mailing such notice within which to submit additional signatures, and the county auditor shall have an additional thirty days after the submission of such additional signatures to determine the validity of the entire petition. No signature may be withdrawn after the petition has been filed.

If the petition, including these additional signatures if any, is found sufficient, the county auditor shall certify its sufficiency to the public utility district and if the commissioners of the public utility district had certified to the county auditor the eligibility of the district for reclassification as provided in this chapter, the county auditor shall submit to the voters of the district the question of whether the district shall become a five commissioner district. The election shall be held at the next state general election occurring sixty or more days after the petition was certified as having sufficient valid signatures.