The secretary shall supervise and conduct any election held pursuant to Section 52871 and this section. Elections for grower members and elections for industry members shall be conducted as follows:
(a)
The secretary shall distribute nomination petitions to each person or organization listed pursuant to Section 52872, and authorized to vote under Section 52871 in the election being held. The petition of signatures in support of a nominee signed by those whom the nominee represents shall be submitted to the secretary in order to nominate any candidate for election to the board within 30 days from the date of the secretary’s distribution of those petitions. There shall be at least 10 signatures on each petition of nomination for a cotton grower candidate, at least two signatures on each petition of nomination for handlers of whole cottonseed candidates, at least six signatures on each petition of nomination for handlers of raw cotton fiber candidates, and at least 10 signatures on each petition of nomination for cotton ginning candidates.
(b)
The submitted petitions for nomination shall be verified by the secretary, and an election ballot containing the names of persons nominated shall thereafter be mailed to the persons and organizations eligible to vote in the election.