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Oregon Changes to Campaign Finance Laws Initiative (2020)
| Oregon Changes to Campaign Finance Laws Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Campaign finance and Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Oregon Changes to Campaign Finance Laws Initiative was not on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.
The measure would have allowed for laws that regulate or limit campaign contributions or expenditures made to influence election outcomes if such laws are passed by a three-fourths vote of legislators in both chambers or passed through the initiative process.[1][2][3]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The certified ballot title for this measure would have been as follows:
| “ | Amends Constitution: Allows laws that “regulate” (undefined) contributions and expenditures made to influence elections.[4] | ” |
Ballot summary
The certified ballot summary for this measure would have been as follows:
| “ | Amends Constitution. The Oregon Supreme Court has interpreted the Oregon Constitution’s free-expression provision (Article I, section 8) to prohibit limits on many political campaign contributions and expenditures. The proposed measure amends Article I, section 8, to allow laws that “regulate contributions and expenditures” made to “influence the outcome of any election” (quoted terms undefined). Such laws would need to be consistent with the federal constitution’s free-speech provision (First Amendment) and be “adopted or amended by an elected legislative body by a three-fourths vote of each chamber or by initiative.” If amendment passes, Measure 47 (2006), which limited campaign contributions/expenditures, established new reporting/advertising disclosure requirements for the sources and amounts of campaign contributions/expenditures, might be revived.[4] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Oregon Constitution
The measure would have amended section 8 of Article I of the state constitution. The following underlined text would be added:[1]
Laws consistent with the freedom of speech guarantee of the United States Constitution may regulate contributions and expenditures, of any type or description, to influence the outcome of any election; provided, that such laws are adopted or amended by an elected legislative body by a three-fourths vote of each chamber or by initiative.[4]
Sponsors
Honest Elections Oregon led the campaign in support of the initiative.[5]
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Oregon, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Signatures for Oregon initiatives must be submitted four months prior to the next regular general election. State law also requires paid signature gatherers to submit any signatures they gather every month.
Moreover, Oregon is one of several states that require a certain number of signatures to accompany an initiative petition application. The signatures of at least 1,000 electors are required to trigger a review by state officials, a period of public commentary, and the drafting of a ballot title. Prior to gathering these initial 1,000 signatures, petitioners must submit the text of the measure, a form disclosing their planned use of paid circulators, and a form designating up to three chief petitioners.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 149,360 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 2, 2020.
In Oregon, signatures are verified using a random sample method. If a first round of signatures is submitted at least 165 days before an election and contains raw, unverified signatures at least equal to the minimum requirement, but verification shows that not enough of the submitted signatures are valid, additional signatures can be submitted prior to the final deadline.
Details about this initiative
- B. Elizabeth Trojan and Ron Buel submitted this initiative on February 6, 2018. It was approved for signature gathering after submitting preliminary signatures on October 17, 2018.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "Complete Text of Initiative #1," accessed November 16, 2018
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Attorney General Letter for Initiative 1," accessed November 16, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division Initiative, Referendum, and Referral Search for 2020," accessed November 16, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Honest Elections Oregon, "Home," accessed July 3, 2019
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State of Oregon Salem (capital) |
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