It is the intent of the Legislature to provide by this article a means by which any county which has provided all or any of officers and employees with both retirement benefits pursuant to this chapter and federal social security benefits on a nonintegrated basis may provide the benefits set forth herein as an alternative to survivorship benefits under social security. Accordingly, this article shall not be operative in any county until such time as the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by majority vote and specifying the class or classes of employees to which it applies, make the provisions of this article applicable in such county, and a majority of the
members of the affected class or classes voting at an election held during 1974 with more than 50 percent of the members participating favor the termination of supplemental survivorship benefits under social security. Any such resolution may specify a date subsequent to the date of adoption as the operative date for implementation of this article.