(a) Upon the initial filing of a petition under this subchapter, the official charged with verifying the signatures shall:

(1) Perform an initial count of the signatures; and

(2) Determine whether the petition contains, on its face and before verification of the signatures of registered voters, the designated number of signatures required by the Arkansas Constitution and statutory law in order to call an election.

(b) A petition part and all signatures appearing on the petition part shall not be counted for any purpose by the official charged with verifying the signatures, including the initial count of signatures, if one (1) or more of the following is true:

(1) The petition is not an original petition, including without limitation a petition that is photocopied or is a facsimile transmission;

(2) The petition lacks the signature, printed name, and residence address of the canvasser or is signed by more than one (1) canvasser;

(3)

(A) The canvasser is a paid canvasser whose name and the information required under § 3-8-802 were not submitted by the sponsor to the county clerk before the petitioner signed the petition.

(B) A canvasser is a paid canvasser if he or she is paid money or anything of value for soliciting signatures before or after the signatures are obtained;

(4) The canvasser verification is not notarized, is notarized by more than one (1) notary, or lacks a notary signature or a notary seal;

(5) The canvasser verification is dated earlier than the date on which a petitioner signed the petition;

(6) The petition part clearly and unmistakably contains signatures of petitioners from more than one (1) county unless each signature of a petitioner from another county is clearly stricken before the filing of the petition with the county clerk; or

(7) The petition part has a material defect that, on its face, renders the petition part invalid.

(c) The following signatures shall not be counted for any purpose by the official charged with verifying the signatures, including the initial count of signatures:

(1) A signature that is not an original signature;

(2) A signature that is obviously not that of the purported petitioner;

(3) A signature that is illegible and is accompanied by no personally identifying information;

(4) A signature for which the corresponding printed name, address, or birthdate is written by someone other than the signer except under circumstances of disability of the signer; and

(5) A signature that has any other material defect that, on its face, renders the signature invalid.