1. At a time designated by the commission within eighteen months after termination of the national promotional order made pursuant to the Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983, 7U.S.C. §4501 etseq., the commission shall conducta referendum under administrative procedures prescribed by the department. 2. Upon signing a statement certifying to the department that the person is a bona fide producer as defined in this chapter, each producer is entitled to one vote in each referendum. When the secretary is required to determine the approval or disapproval of producers under this section, the secretary shall consider the approval or disapproval of a cooperative association of producers, engaged in a bona fide manner in marketing milk, as the approval or disapproval of the producers who are members of or contract with the cooperative association of producers. Ifa cooperative association elects to vote on behalf of its members, the cooperative association shall provide each producer on whose behalf the cooperative association isexpressing approval or disapproval with a description of the question presented in the referendum together with a statement of the manner in which the cooperative association intends to cast its vote on behalf of the membership. The information shall inform the producer of procedures to follow to cast an individual ballot ifthe producer chooses to do so within the period of time established by the secretary for casting ballots. The notification shall be made at least thirty days prior to the referendum and shall include an official ballot. The ballots shall be tabulated by the secretary and the vote of the cooperative association shall be adjusted to reflect the individual votes. 3. The department shall count and tabulate the ballots filed during the referendum within thirty days of the close of the referendum. Iffrom the tabulation the department determines that a majority of the total number of producers voting in the referendum favors the proposal, the excise tax provided for in this chapter shall be continued. The ballots cast pursuant to this section constitute complete and conclusive evidence for use in determinations made by the department under this chapter. 4. The secretary may conduct a referendum at any time after the Iowa dairy industry commission is reactivated, and shall hold a referendum on request of a representative group comprising ten percent or more of the number of producers eligible to vote, to determine whether the producers favor the termination or suspension of the excise tax. The secretary shall suspend or terminate collection of the excise tax within six months after the secretary determines that suspension or termination of the excise tax is favored by a majority of the producers voting in the referendum, and shall terminate the excise tax in an orderly manner as soon as practicable after the determination.
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