Laws governing local ballot measures in Oregon

Laws Governing Local Ballot Measures

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Terms

Initiative • Home rule • General law city • Charter city • Petition • Initiative petition circulation periods • Circulator • Paid circulator • Volunteer circulator • Circulator affidavit • Signer • Valid signature • Forged signature • Fraudulent signature • Invalid signature • Electronic petition signature • Legislative alteration • Registered voter

This page describes the state constitutional provisions and statutes that govern local ballot measures in Oregon. Jurisdictions often establish additional rules within the parameters of state law; those can be found in local ordinances and home-rule charters.

Explore the links below for more information:

• Laws addressing local ballot measure powers in Oregon
• General requirements for local ballot measures
• Rules for citizen-initiated local ballot measures
• Rules for referred local ballot measures

Law

The Oregon Constitution and Oregon Election Code establish the rules that govern local ballot measures in the state.

• Constitution: Article IV, Article VI, and Article XI of the Oregon Constitution
• Statute: Oregon Revised Statutes, Volume 6, Local Government, Public Employees, Elections

General

The following outlines the general rules that govern local ballot measures in Oregon, including both citizen-initiated measures and referred measures from local government bodies.

• Election timing:
  • Initiatives: Initiatives must be placed on local ballots at least 90 days after the petition was filed and on either the third Tuesday in May or the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
  • Referrals: Measures referred to the ballot by a local government can appear at one of the following election dates, depending on the type of measure.
    • Second Tuesday in March,
    • Third Tuesday in May,
    • Fourth Tuesday in August,
    • Primary election on the third Tuesday in May of an even-numbered year, or
    • General election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of an even-numbered year.
• Vote requirements: Most local ballot measures have a simple majority vote requirement. The exception is a property tax measure submitted to voters at a March or August election, which must be approved by a simple majority, and at least 50% of registered voters eligible to vote in the election must cast a ballot.
• Required ballot measures: State law authorizes cities, counties, and special districts to issue bonds with voter approval and to levy an ad valorem tax to repay the bonds.
• Official titles: For initiatives, each initiative receives a number based on the sequence the petition was filed with the county for signature verification, and it is preceded by a unique county prefix number. For referrals, the county election officials assign a number after the final ballot title is filed. No numbers are repeated, even if the measure is withdrawn.

Initiatives

The following outlines additional rules that govern local citizen-initiated ballot measures in Oregon.

• Authority: Article IV and Article VI of the Oregon Constitution provides voters of all cities, counties, and districts the power to change ordinances or charters through the initiative and referendum process. The sections authorize political subdivisions to adopt laws governing the exercise of this power. Apart from the signature requirement, which the state constitution limits, state law also provides that charter cities and counties may alter particular requirements of the initiative process through a charter or ordinance.
• Signatures:
  • Ballot initiatives in non-home rule counties: 6% of the total number of votes cast in the county for all candidates for governor
  • County charter or amendments: 8% of the total number of votes cast for all candidates in the last gubernatorial election
  • County-initiated ordinances: 6% of the total number of votes cast for all candidates in the last gubernatorial election
  • County veto referendums: 4% of the total number of votes cast in the county for all candidates for governor
  • Ballot initiatives in cities or districts: 15% of the qualified voters at the time the petition is filed
  • Veto referendums in cities or districts: 10% of qualified voters in the city at the time the petition is filed
• Deadlines:
  • For initiated ordinances or charter amendments: Signatures are due two years after final approval to circulate
  • For veto referendums in counties or the Port of Portland: 90 days after the adoption of a nonemergency county measure
  • For veto referendums in cities or districts: 30 days after the adoption of the city legislation
• Withdrawal: Initiatives can be withdrawn before the total number of signatures required for verification has been filed if all chief petitioners sign off on the withdrawal.

Referrals

The following outlines additional rules that govern local referred ballot measures in Oregon.

• Authority: State law authorizes counties, cities, and special districts, such as school districts, to refer bond measures and local option tax measures to local ballots. All political subdivisions must conduct tax elections through the county election office.
• Deadlines: For county measures, the ballot title or referral text must be filed with county election officials 81 days before the election for either circulation in a newspaper or review by the district attorney to draft an impartial ballot title that is then circulated. The final ballot title and explanatory statement must be filed with county election officials no later than 61 days before the election. For city measures, the ballot title or referral text must be filed with city election officials 81 days before the election for either circulation in a newspaper or review by the city attorney to draft an impartial ballot title that is then circulated. The final ballot title and explanatory statement must be filed with county election officials no later than 61 days before the election. District measures have a similar process, except the ballot title must be prepared by the district and then submitted to county election officials at least 61 days before the election.
• Competing measures: State law authorizes a governing body to refer a competing measure to the same ballot as an initiated measure if it prepared no later than 30 days after the initiative was filed.
• Withdrawal: County, city, and district referrals can be withdrawn if a notice is filed with the county election officials at least 61 days before the election.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the U.S.

Laws governing local ballot measures in the United States

As state laws govern ballot measures, the rules are different from state to state. Click on a state below to explore that state's laws on local ballot measures.

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http://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_local_ballot_measures_in_STATE

See also

• Laws governing local ballot measures
• Laws governing ballot measures in Oregon
• Local ballot measures, Oregon
• Counties in Oregon

Footnotes

Laws governing ballot measures in the United States

Laws governing ballot measures

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Citizen-initiated ballot measures • Legislatively referred ballot measures • Automatically referred ballot measures • Commission-referred ballot measures • Convention-referred constitutional amendments

Ballot measure policy terms

Glossary of ballot measure policy terms