Filing a Prospective Petition
Petitioner: File a Statement of Organization with the State Elections Division.
- Review the Campaign Finance and the ORESTAR User’s Statement of Organization Manuals.
- Petition will not be approved for circulation until the Statement of Organization is filed. The deadline for filing may be earlier if contributions are received or expenditures made to support the initiative effort.
Petitioner: File the prospective initiative petition with the Multnomah County Elections Division. The prospective petition must include:
- Prospective Petition - Local Initiative and Referendum form (SEL 370). One to three chief petitioners must be listed and all must be registered voters in Multnomah County.
- The text of the county legislation proposed for adoption, amendment, revision, or repeal, and, where applicable, the title, ordinance number, and charter or code section numbers proposed for amendment, revision, or repeal. Chief petitioners are encouraged to seek legal assistance when drafting the legislative text.
Elections Division: Has five business days from the filing of the prospective petition to issue a written statement to chief petitioners determining whether the petition complies with Multnomah County Code and meets the single subject requirement and qualifies as “county legislation” under the Oregon Constitution.
Elections Division: If the Elections Director determines that the prospective petition complies with Multnomah County Code and procedural constitutional requirements, he will promptly transmit two copies to the County Attorney.
- If the petition does not meet requirements, the chief petitioner will be notified and the process concluded.
- Petitioner: Can challenge the Director’s decision through Multnomah County Circuit Court. The court petition must be filed by the 7th business day after the written notice of rejection.
Ballot Title
County Attorney: Within 5 business days of receiving the petition, drafts the ballot title and the explanatory statement for the voters’ pamphlet in compliance with state law.
County Attorney: Provides copies of the prospective petition, ballot title, and explanatory statement to the Elections Division and to chief petitioners.
Elections Division: Publishes notice of ballot title receipt in the next edition of a newspaper of general circulation and on the Elections Division’s website. Notice includes information about the ballot title challenge process.
- Electors may challenge the ballot title and/or explanatory statement in Multnomah County Circuit Court within seven business days of the Elections Division receiving the ballot title from the County Attorney.
- Any person filing a challenge must file a copy of it with the Elections Division by the end of the next business day after the challenge is filed with the Circuit Court.
Elections Division: If no challenge is filed, or as soon as a challenge has been adjudicated, the Elections Director certifies the official ballot title to one of the chief petitioners and provides the Petition ID.
Approval to Circulate Petition
Petitioner: Must file physical copies of the signature sheets as they are meant to be circulated with the Elections Division. Petitioners retain their own copies to use for circulation once petition is certified.
- Local Petition Cover Sheet (SEL 369). The complete ballot title must be included on the form and the signature sheet must be printed on the reverse side.
- Circulator’s copy of the proposed county legislative text. The text can be included on the SEL 369 form or provided as a separate document. Circulators must carry a copy of the text.
- Signature Sheet Local (SEL 371). Cover sheet must be printed on the reverse side.
- Optional: Electronic Signature Sheet Local (SEL 348). The cover sheet must be printed on the reverse side. Electronic sheets can be distributed electronically and without a circulator, but the original, physically signed form must be returned to a chief petitioner and filed with the other signature sheets.
Elections Division:
- Reviews the cover and signature sheets for compliance with the requirements for prospective county initiative petitions.
- Reviews the circulator's copy of the legislative text to ensure it reads exactly the same and is substantially similar in formatting to the text originally filed with the prospective petition.
- Verifies chief petitioners have filed a Statement of Organization via ORESTAR or by contacting the State Elections Division.
Elections Division: Notifies the chief petitioners in writing either certifying the petition for circulation or providing instructions on changes that must be made and refiled for approval.
Petitioner: Circulation may only begin after the petition is certified in writing. Petitioner has 6 months from date the Elections Director certifies the official ballot title to the chief petitioner to gather signatures.
- 29,284 qualified signatures required for a charter amendment initiative petition.
- 21,963 qualified signatures required for an ordinance initiative petition.
- Information about circulation requirements is available in the County, City, and District Initiative and Referendum Manual.
Signature Verification and Certification
Petitioner: If the minimum number of required signatures is gathered, files the original, physical signature sheets and a Petition Submission form (SEL 339) with the Elections Division by the deadline.
- Deadline: Signatures must be filed by the end of the business day 6 months from the date the official ballot title was certified to the chief petitioner.
- Signature sheets must be signed and dated by their circulator and numbered and filed sequentially by a chief petitioner.
Elections Division: Must certify to the Board of County Commissioners within 30 days of accepting the petition whether it contains the required number of qualified signatures to be referred as a ballot measure.
- Random sampling may be used for verification.
Board of County Commissioners: If the petition has enough qualified signatures, the Board may either adopt the proposed legislation by ordinance or call an election for the measure (charter amendments can only be adopted by voters).
- The measure must be on the ballot at the next election available under state law that is at least 90 days after the Elections Director certifies the signatures.