Oregon Forest Waters Initiative (2020)
| Oregon Forest Waters Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Forests and parks and Water | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Oregon Forest Waters Initiative was not on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The measures would have concerned water on forestland managed by the state. The different versions concerned limits on clearcut logging and aerial spraying of pesticides.
Text of measure
Full text
- Version #35 ("Oregon Forest Waters Protection Act") full text
- Version #36 ("Protect Forest Waters from Clearcut Logging") full text
- Version #37 ("Protect Forest Waters from Aerial Pesticide Spray") full text
Path to the ballot
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:
- Signatures: 112,020 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
- Vikram Anantha, Micha Elizabeth Gross, and Kate Crump filed the different versions of the initiative on July 9, 2019.[1]
- The initiative was rejected on September 24, 2019 by Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno. In a statement regarding her decision, she said, "Upon reviewing the public comments, considering the Attorney General’s analysis, and discussing the matter with my Deputy, Rich Vial, and Elections Director Steve Trout, I determined that these three measures violate the single-subject rule." Oregon law requires that initiative petitions concern a single-subject.[1][2]
- On October 14, 2019, Vikram Anantha and Micha Gross filed a lawsuit against Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno that requested the rejection of the ballot measures be overturned.[3]
- On November 27, 2019, a Marion County Circuit judge ruled in favor of Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno's decision to reject the three ballot measures because they did not comply with the single-subject rule.[4]
- On February 12, 2020, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the petitioners and rejected Clarno's argument that the ballot measures violated the single-subject rule. The petitions were reinstated on February 14, 2020.[5]
- The initiative was not cleared for circulation.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Oregon Secretary of State, "2020 Initiative, Referendum, and Referral Search," accessed July 12, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Secretary Clarno Rules on IP Measures 35–37," October 3, 2019
- ↑ The Oregonian, "Lawsuit filed over Secretary of State’s unprecedented rejection of Oregon forest ballot measures," published October 14, 2019
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Court Issues Ruling Regarding Secretary of State Bev Clarno’s Rejection of Petition Initiatives," November 27, 2019
- ↑ The Corvallis Advocate, "Oregon Appeals Court Refutes Secretary of State's Decision," February 13, 2020
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