|
There are three types of ballot measures you’ll see in the upcoming election year — ballot initiatives, referendums and referrals. While referrals come directly out of the State Legislature, referendums and initiatives are citizen-led. Oregon is one of fifteen states that allows initiatives for constitutional amendments, statutes and veto referendums. Other states have stricter initiative options, while some have no opportunity for citizen engagement at all. Only 26 states total have some form of citizen-initiated ballot measures.
There are two types of citizen initiatives: a constitutional initiative and a statutory initiative, with both beginning as a petition. Each petition’s first steps are gathering and submitting 1,000 sponsorship signatures. After the submission of 1,000 signatures, the petitions are forwarded from the Elections Division to the Attorney General’s office for the drafting of the ballot title. The ballot title summarizes the petition and its major effect.
Once the ballot title process is complete, the chief petitioners can begin signature gathering for the petition. The measure can only be placed on the ballot if it reaches the required number of signatures at least four months prior to the next general election. This number of valid signatures required is based on the number of votes cast for governor in the last election. For a constitutional initiative, this number must be at least 8% of the number of votes cast. For a statutory initiative, this number must be at least 6% of the number of votes cast.
So far, there are 52 ballot measure initiatives listed on the Secretary of State’s website. Twenty of them have Certified Ballot Titles. Filing dates started as early as September of 2021, with the most recent initiative filed on November 20, 2023.
The second type of citizen lead ballot measure is a referendum. A statewide referendum allows people to adopt or reject a bill passed by the Oregon Legislature. A referendum can only be filed when a non-emergency bill becomes an act, after being either signed into law or after the deadline has been passed for a bill to be signed/vetoed.
Instead of circulating with the final ballot title, which is only prepared if the referendum qualifies to the ballot, referendum petitions are circulated using the final measure summary from the act or last engrossed bill. The deadline for the signature verification is 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die. For a referendum petition, valid signatures totaling at least 4% of the total votes cast for governor at the last election is required.
The last type of ballot measure is a legislative referral. These are directly sent to the ballot from the Legislature. Both chambers of the Legislature must vote to refer the measure, and the referral cannot be vetoed by the Governor. This includes any constitutional change, which requires voter approval.
There are three legislative referrals that will be on the 2024 ballot. As we mentioned in last month’s MPA Update, one of the referrals is a constitutional amendment: "The Oregon Impeachment of Elected State Executives Amendment," which came before the Legislature in 2023 and was referred to the voters with strong bipartisan support. This was referred through HJR 16 in the 2023 session. It would add an impeachment clause for state executives, something that Oregon is the only state without.
Also on the Oregon ballot for 2024 will be the implementation of ranked choice voting for statewide elected officials, the president and members of Congress. This was referred through House Bill 2004 in the 2023 Legislative Session. Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank their candidates based on preference, instead of just choosing their top candidate. If no single candidate receives more than 50% of first-preference votes, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and their votes are distributed to other candidates. That process continues until a candidate has amassed a majority of the vote. Benton County and the City of Corvallis already use ranked choice voting in local elections, and Portland will begin using it for City Council elections in November of 2024.
The third ballot measure referred to the ballot in 2024 is a constitutional amendment to create an “Independent Public Service Compensation Commission.” The commission would set pay for statewide elected officials, lawmakers, judges and elected district attorneys. The low salaries of statewide elected officials have long been a discussion point in Oregon. This measure will allow voters to decide on creating this commission, but does not state the size of the body or who would be responsible in choosing who holds the seats. The measure was referred to the voters after SJR 34 was passed in the 2023 session.
|
employment, stronger business investment and productivity gains. However, state revenues are way up from the previous forecast — according to the report, Gross General Fund revenues for the 2023-25 biennium are expected to reach nearly $26 billion. This is $274 million more than predicted in the September forecast, and $678 million more than we thought we’d have at the close of session forecast.
Our team is celebrating you with gratitude this week. Whoever you are, and however you found yourself subscribed to this newsletter, you play an important role in the work we get to do — and we are so thankful we get to do it.
