Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 165 - SECRETARY OF STATE, ELECTIONS DIVISION › Division 14 - INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL › Section 165-014-0260 - Prohibition on Paying or Receipt of Payment based on the Number of Signatures Obtained on an Initiative, Referendum, Candidate Nominating Petition or Voter Registration Cards

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) The purpose
			 of this rule is to interpret Article IV, section 1b of the Oregon Constitution
			 and ORS 260.569. Article IV, section 1b
			 of the Oregon Constitution provides: "It shall be unlawful to pay or receive
			 money or other thing of value based on the number of signatures obtained on an
			 initiative or referendum petition. Nothing herein prohibits payment for
			 signature gathering which is not based, either directly or indirectly, on the
			 number of signatures obtained." ORS
			 260.569 provides: "A person may
			 not pay or receive money or another thing of value based on the number of:
			 signatures a person obtains for purposes of nominating a candidate for elective
			 public office or signed voter registration cards a person collects.
(2) Section 1b and ORS
			 260.569 bans the practice of
			 paying circulators or others involved in an initiative, referendum, candidate
			 nominating petition or voter registration card collection effort if the basis
			 for payment is the number of signatures obtained. This means that payment
			 cannot be made on a per signature basis. Employment relationships that do not
			 base payment on the number of signatures collected are allowed. Allowable
			 practices include: paying an hourly wage or salary, using express minimum
			 signature requirements (quota), terminating those who do not meet the
			 productivity requirements, adjusting salaries prospectively relative to
			 productivity, and paying discretionary bonuses based on reliability, longevity
			 and productivity, provided no payments are made on a per signature basis. The
			 use of express minimum signature requirements (quota) for an initiative or
			 referendum petition is allowable so long as that requirement is disclosed to
			 the Elections Division on the SEL 320 as part of accounts.
(3) If a circulator is carrying a petition
			 subject to Section 1b or ORS
			 260.569 and another petition not
			 subject to Section 1b or ORS
			 260.569 (for example, a state
			 initiative petition and a local recall petition), the circulator may be paid by
			 the signature only for signatures collected on the petition not subject to
			 Section 1b or ORS 260.569. Any payment for
			 collecting signatures on the petition subject to Section 1b or ORS
			 260.569 must comply with Section
			 1b or ORS 260.569.
(4) The phrase "directly or indirectly" in
			 Section 1b means that the chief petitioners who are responsible for the
			 circulation and submission of the initiative or referendum petition cannot
			 directly pay for signature gathering based on the number of signatures
			 obtained, and cannot contract or delegate to another person or entity to obtain
			 signatures and allow the third party to pay circulators on the basis of the
			 number of signatures obtained. However, chief petitioners may contract with a
			 person or entity to manage the signature gathering, and pay the person or
			 entity for services, including the service of qualifying the petition for the
			 ballot, so long as the individuals who actually circulate the petition are not
			 paid based on the number of signatures obtained. The chief petitioners are
			 responsible for insuring that agents of the chief petitioner (anyone who is
			 delegated the task of obtaining signatures on the initiative or referendum
			 petition) do not violate Section 1b.
(5) Violations of Section 1b or ORS
			 260.569 will be processed under
			 260.995 as civil penalties.
			 Penalties may be assessed against chief petitioners or any other persons who
			 either directly or indirectly pay based on the number of signatures or voter
			 registration cards obtained. Liability may be imposed on chief petitioners as
			 provided in 260.561. Violations of Section
			 1b or 260.569 will be calculated by
			 deeming each individual signature sheet or voter registration card that
			 contains signatures that were collected in violation of Section 1b or
			 260.569 as a single
			 occurrence.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
				  246.150
Stats. Implemented: ORS
				  250.045 &
				  260.995