§6413 Requirement of initial referendum

Summary

The Secretary must hold a vote of fluid milk processors during the 60 days before an order would take effect to decide if the order should start. The order goes forward only if at least 50 percent of processors who vote approve it and if the processors who voted and who marketed during the Secretary’s set representative period account for 60 percent or more of the volume marketed by those voting processors. The Department’s costs to run the vote must be paid back from Board assessments. The Secretary decides how the votes are run. A processor who wants to vote must register with the Secretary before the voting period, after getting the Secretary’s notice. Voters must follow the Secretary’s procedures. Ballots and any information that could show how a processor voted must be kept confidential. The Secretary must notify all processors at least 30 days before the referendum and explain the process.