The articles of incorporation, executed and acknowledged in accordance with Code Section 46-5-67, shall be presented, by application signed by two of the persons who signed the articles of incorporation, to the superior court of the county in which the principal office of the cooperative is to be located, or to the judge of the superior court of that county in vacation, or in the event that the judge of the superior court of said county is absent from the circuit, disqualified, or for illness or other reason cannot act in the premises, then to any judge of the superior court of this state. The application shall be accompanied by a certificate of the Secretary of State declaring that the name of the proposed cooperative is not the name of any other then existing corporation registered in the records of the Secretary of State, and by such affidavits as may be required by applicable provisions of this part.