Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 165 - SECRETARY OF STATE, ELECTIONS DIVISION › Division 14 - INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL › Section 165-014-0270 - Circulator Certification

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) This
			 rule applies to prospective initiative, initiative, referendum, recall,
			 candidate nominating, minor political party formation and voters' pamphlet
			 petitions.
(2) Circulators must
			 certify that they witnessed the signing of the signature sheet by each
			 individual whose signature appears on the sheet and that they believe each
			 signer is an elector by completing the certification at the bottom of the
			 signature sheet.
(3) A petition
			 signature sheet will be rejected if the circulator certification is not
			 completed or determined to be insufficient.
(4) The circulator certification is
			 considered complete if it consists of a signature and a date that have been
			 determined to be sufficient under the Circulator Certification Matrix contained
			 in Appendix A which is incorporated into this rule by reference.
(5) For circulators required to be registered
			 under ORS 250.048, the handwriting characteristics and factors set forth in the
			 Vote by Mail Procedures Manual adopted under OAR
			 165-007-0030  will be used to evaluate and determine whether the certification signature on a
			 petition sheet matches signatures provided as examples on any SEL 308,
			 Circulator Registration, accepted for the petition cycle.
(6) For circulators not required to be
			 registered under ORS 250.048, the handwriting characteristics and factors set
			 forth in the Vote by Mail Procedures Manual adopted under OAR
			 165-007-0030  will be used to evaluate and determine whether the certification signature on a
			 petition sheet matches signatures contained in the circulator's voter
			 registration record.
(7) If the
			 circulator is not required to be registered under ORS 250.048 and an Oregon
			 voter registration record bearing the circulator's signature is not available
			 as an exemplar, the elections official will notify the chief petitioners or
			 authorized agent by telephone and email, providing an opportunity to submit an
			 alternative exemplar of the circulator's signature.
(a) To be considered, the chief petitioners
			 or authorized agent must deliver an alternative exemplar to the elections
			 official no later than 5 pm of the following business day that is at least 24
			 hours from the time notification was made. Additional time to provide an
			 alternative exemplar may be allowed only if the chief petitioners or authorized
			 agent requests it and if allowing the additional time does not delay the
			 signature verification process.
(b)
			 The alternative exemplar must be a signature on an official government-issued
			 document such as a driver's license or passport, and must have been executed
			 before the date of the attempted certification of the petition signature
			 sheet.
(c) The handwriting
			 characteristics and factors set forth in the Vote by Mail Procedures Manual
			 adopted under OAR
			 165-007-0030  will be used to evaluate and determine whether the certification signature on a
			 petition sheet matches the signature on the alternative exemplar.