Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

Oregon First-in-the-West Presidential Primary Initiative (2020)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Oregon First-in-the-West Presidential Primary Initiative
Flag of Oregon.png
Election date
November 3, 2020
Topic
Elections and campaigns
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
State statute
Origin
Citizens


The Oregon First-in-the-West Presidential Primary Initiative was not on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.

The measure would have made Oregon the second state in the nation and the first state in the West to vote in a presidential primary election. The measure was modeled after New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated Title 63, Chapter 653.9 which makes New Hampshire the first state in the nation to vote in a presidential primary election. The measure would have required that presidential primary elections in Oregon be held on either the second Tuesday in March or on a date selected by the secretary of state that is at least 7 days after the first state holds a presidential primary.[1]

Text of measure

Full text

The full text of the measure was as follows:[1]

PROPOSED OREGON STATUTE: The presidential primary election shall be held on the second Tuesday in March or on a date selected by the secretary of state which is 7 days or more immediately following the date on which any other state shall hold a similar first in the nation presidential primary election, whichever is earlier, of each year when a president of the United States is to be elected or the year previous. Said primary shall be held in connection with the regular March election or, if held on any other day, at a special election called by the secretary of state for that purpose. The purpose of this section is to create the tradition of the Oregon second-in-the-nation and first in the west presidential primary.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Oregon

The state process

In Oregon, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 6 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 1,000 preliminary signatures count toward the final total required.

The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:

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

  • Brandon Jenkins submitted this initiative on June 4, 2018. He submitted an idential measure targeting the November 2018 ballot, Initiative 45, which did not qualify for the ballot.

See also

External links

Footnotes