(a)
Upon a finding by a 23 vote of the membership of the commission that the operation of this chapter has not tended to effectuate its declared purposes, the commission may recommend to the secretary that the operation of this chapter be suspended. However, any suspension shall not become effective until the expiration of the current marketing year.
(b)
The secretary shall, upon receipt of the recommendation, or may, after a public hearing to review a petition filed with the secretary requesting a suspension signed by not less than 20 percent of the handlers by number who handled not less than 20 percent of the volume in the immediately preceding marketing year, hold a referendum among the handlers to determine if the operations of the commission shall be suspended. However, the secretary shall not hold a referendum as a result of the petition unless the petitioner shows, by a preponderance of evidence, that the operation of this chapter has not tended to effectuate its declared purposes.
(c)
The secretary shall establish a referendum period, which shall not be less than 10 days or more than 60 days in duration. The secretary may prescribe additional procedures as may be necessary to conduct the referendum. At the close of the established referendum period, the secretary shall tabulate the ballots filed during the period. The secretary shall suspend the operation of this chapter if the secretary finds that at least 40 percent of the total number of handlers from the list established by the secretary have participated in the referendum and either one of the following has occurred:
(1)
Sixty-five percent or more of the handlers who voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the handlers so voting handled a majority of the total quantity of dates handled in the preceding marketing year by all of the handlers who voted in the referendum.
(2)
A majority of the handlers who voted in the referendum voted in favor of suspension, and the handlers so voting handled 65 percent or more of the total quantity of dates handled in the preceding marketing year by all of the handlers who voted in the referendum.
(d)
If a referendum is conducted as the result of a petition pursuant to subdivision (b), the costs to conduct the referendum shall be paid by the petitioners.