After receiving the petition for the initiation of a proposed ordinance, the governing body of the municipality shall:

1. Pass the ordinance without alteration within twenty days after the attachment of the auditor’s certificate to the accompanying petition;    2. Call a special election, unless a general city election is fixed within ninety days thereafter, and submit to the vote of the qualified electors of the municipality the initiated ordinance without alteration; or

3. If the petition is signed by not less than twenty-five percent of the qualified electors as defined in section 40-12-02, pass the ordinance without change within twenty days after the filing of the petition or submit the initiated ordinance at the next general municipal election, if the election occurs not more than thirty days after the city auditor’s certificate of sufficiency is attached to the petition, and if no general municipal election is to be held within thirty days after the city auditor’s certificate of sufficiency is attached to the petition, it shall call a special election.