71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
Enrolled
House Bill 2584
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON RULES, REDISTRICTING, AND PUBLIC
AFFAIRS (at the request of Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and
Association of County Clerks)
CHAPTER ................
AN ACT
Relating to elections; creating new provisions; and amending ORS
254.007, 254.470, 260.695 and 260.993.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + Sections 2 and 3 of this 2001 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS chapter 260. + }
SECTION 2. { + (1) This section applies only to elections
conducted at polling places.
(2) The election board, if requested, shall permit authorized
persons to be at the polling place to challenge persons offering
to vote and to watch the receiving and counting of votes. The
authorization shall be in writing, shall be signed by an officer
or its county affiliate of a political party, a candidate or the
county clerk and shall be filed with the board. The board shall
permit only so many persons as challengers or watchers under this
subsection as will not interfere with an orderly procedure at the
polling place. + }
SECTION 3. { + (1) This section applies only to elections
conducted by mail.
(2) After the date that ballots are mailed as provided in ORS
254.470, the county clerk, if requested, shall permit authorized
persons to be at the office of the county clerk to watch the
receiving and counting of votes. The authorization shall be in
writing, shall be signed by an officer or its county affiliate of
a political party, a candidate or the county clerk and shall be
filed with the county clerk. The county clerk shall permit only
so many persons as watchers under this subsection as will not
interfere with an orderly procedure at the office of the county
clerk. + }
SECTION 4. ORS 254.007 is amended to read:
254.007. ORS 254.205, 254.215, 254.226, 254.245, 254.265,
254.275, 254.295, 254.315, 254.325, 254.335, 254.345, 254.355,
254.385, 254.395, 254.405, 254.419, 254.426, 254.435, 254.455,
254.483 and 254.525 { + and section 2 of this 2001 Act + } apply
only to elections conducted at polling places.
SECTION 5. ORS 260.695 is amended to read:
260.695. (1) No person shall print or circulate an imitation of
the ballot or sample ballot, or a portion of the ballot or sample
ballot, which contains information which will not appear, or
deletes information which will appear, on the ballot or sample
ballot, or that portion of the ballot or sample ballot, unless
Enrolled House Bill 2584 (HB 2584-B) Page 1
the imitation of the ballot or sample ballot, or portion of the
ballot or sample ballot, contains the following statement in bold
type: ' NOT FOR OFFICIAL USE.' This subsection does not prohibit
the printing or circulation of an imitation of a ballot which
illustrates the manner in which a candidate's name may be written
in for an office.
(2) No person, within any building in which a polling place is
located { + or, in an election conducted by mail, after the date
that ballots are mailed as provided in ORS 254.470, within any
building in which ballots are issued, + } or within 100 feet
measured radially from any entrance to the building, shall do any
electioneering, including circulating any cards or hand bills, or
soliciting signatures to any petition. No person shall do any
electioneering by public address system located more than 100
feet from an entrance to the building but capable of being
understood within 100 feet of the building. The electioneering
need not relate to the election being conducted.
(3) No person shall obstruct an entrance of a building in which
a polling place is located. { + In an election conducted by
mail, from the date that ballots are mailed as provided in ORS
254.470 until the time designated by the county clerk for closure
of the building on election day, no person shall obstruct an
entrance of a building in which a place designated for the
deposit of ballots under ORS 254.470 or any voting booth
maintained under ORS 254.474 is located. + }
{ - (4) No person, within a polling place, shall wear a
political badge, button or other insignia. - }
{ - (5) - } { + (4) + } No person shall vote or offer to
vote in any election { - or at any polling place - } knowing
the person is not entitled to vote.
{ - (6) - } { + (5) + } No person at a polling place, other
than an election board member, shall deliver a ballot to an
elector.
{ - (7) - } { + (6) + } No elector { - other than an
absent elector - } { + at a polling place + } shall knowingly
receive a ballot from any other person than an election board
member.
{ - (8) - } { + (7) + } No person shall make a false
statement about the person's inability to mark a ballot.
{ - (9) - } { + (8) + } No person, except an elections
official in performance of duties or other person providing
assistance to { - a handicapped - } { + an + } elector { +
as described in ORS 254.445 + }, shall ask a person at the
polling place for whom that person intends to vote, or examine or
attempt to examine the person's ballot.
{ - (10) - } { + (9) + } No person shall show the person's
own marked or punched ballot to another person to reveal how it
was marked or punched.
{ - (11) - } { + (10) + } No elections official, other than
in the performance of duties, shall disclose to any person any
information by which it can be ascertained for whom any elector
has voted.
{ - (12) - } { + (11) + } No person, { - other than - }
{ + except + } an elections official in performance of duties,
shall do anything to a ballot to permit identification of the
person who voted.
{ - (13) - } { + (12) + } No elector { + at a polling
place + } shall deliver a ballot to an election board member
except the ballot the elector received from an election board
member. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a person from
Enrolled House Bill 2584 (HB 2584-B) Page 2
delivering any absentee ballot or ballots to an election board
member.
{ - (14) - } { + (13) + } No person { + at a polling
place + }, except an election board member, shall receive from an
elector other than an absent elector a marked or punched ballot.
{ - (15) - } { + (14) + } No elector shall willfully leave
in the polling place anything that will show how the elector's
ballot was marked or punched. { + In an election conducted by
mail, no elector shall willfully leave at any place designated
for the deposit of ballots under ORS 254.470 or in any voting
booth maintained under ORS 254.474, anything that will show how
the elector's ballot was marked or punched. + }
{ - (16) - } { + (15) + } No person, except an elections
official in performance of duties, shall remove a ballot from any
polling place { + , any place designated for the deposit of
ballots under ORS 254.470 or any voting booth maintained under
ORS 254.474 + }.
{ - (17) - } { + (16) + } No person, except an elections
official in performance of duties or a person authorized by that
official, shall willfully deface, remove, alter or destroy a
posted election notice.
{ - (18) - } { + (17) + } No person, except an elections
official in performance of duties, shall willfully remove, alter
or destroy election equipment or supplies, or break the seal or
open any sealed package containing election supplies.
{ + (18) No person other than an elections official shall
attempt to collect voted ballots within 100 feet measured
radially from a location designated for deposit of ballots under
ORS 254.470.
(19) No person, except an elections official in performance of
duties, in an election conducted by mail, shall establish a
location to collect ballots voted by electors unless the person
prominently displays at the location a sign stating: 'NOT AN
OFFICIAL BALLOT DROP SITE.' + }
SECTION 6. ORS 260.993 is amended to read:
260.993. (1) The penalty for violation of ORS 260.532 is
limited to that provided in ORS 260.532 (6) and (8).
(2) Violation of ORS 247.125, 247.171 (5), 247.420 (2),
253.710, 260.402, 260.555, 260.575, 260.615, 260.645, 260.665 (2)
or (3) involving any action described in ORS 260.665 (2)(d) to
(f), 260.715 or 260.718 is a Class C felony.
(3) Violation of ORS 260.695 { - (5) - } { + (4) + } is a
Class A misdemeanor.
(4) Violation of ORS 247.171 (6) is a Class C misdemeanor.
SECTION 7. ORS 254.470 is amended to read:
254.470. (1) An election by mail shall be conducted as provided
in this section. The Secretary of State may adopt rules governing
the procedures for conducting an election by mail.
(2) When conducting an election by mail, the county clerk may
designate the county clerk's office or one central location in
the electoral district in which the election is conducted as the
single place to obtain a replacement ballot under subsection (9)
of this section. The Secretary of State by rule shall establish
requirements and criteria for the designation of places of
deposit for the ballots cast in the election. The places
designated under this section shall be open on the date of the
election for a period, determined by the county clerk, of eight
or more hours, but must be open until at least 8 p.m. { + At
each place of deposit designated under this section, the county
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clerk shall prominently display a sign stating that the location
is an official ballot drop site. + }
(3)(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of
this subsection, the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable
mail an official ballot with a return identification envelope and
a secrecy envelope not sooner than the 18th day before the date
of an election conducted by mail and not later than the 14th day
before the date of the election, to each active elector of the
electoral district as of the 21st day before the date of the
election.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, if the
county clerk determines that an active elector of the electoral
district as of the 21st day before the date of the election does
not receive daily mail service from the United States Postal
Service, the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable mail an
official ballot with a return identification envelope and a
secrecy envelope to the elector not sooner than the 20th day
before the date of an election conducted by mail and not later
than the 18th day before the date of the election.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the
Secretary of State by rule shall specify the date on which all
ballots shall be mailed for any state election conducted by mail
under ORS 254.465 (2).
(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, in the
case of ballots to be mailed to addresses outside this state to
electors who are not long-term absent electors, the county clerk
may mail the ballots not sooner than the 29th day before the date
of the election.
(4) For an election held on the date of a biennial primary
election:
(a) The county clerk shall mail the official ballot of a major
political party to each elector who is registered as being
affiliated with the major political party as of the 21st day
before the date of the election.
(b) An elector not affiliated with any political party shall be
mailed the ballot of a major political party in whose biennial
primary election the elector wishes to vote if the elector has
applied for the ballot as provided in this subsection and that
party has provided under ORS 254.365 for a biennial primary
election that admits electors not affiliated with any political
party.
(c) An elector not affiliated with any political party who
wishes to vote in the biennial primary election of a major
political party shall apply to the county clerk in writing.
Except for electors described in subsection (5) of this section,
and subject to ORS 247.203, the application must be received by
the clerk not later than 5 p.m. of the 21st day before the date
of the election.
(d) If the biennial primary election ballot includes city,
county or nonpartisan offices or measures, an elector not
eligible to vote for party candidates shall be mailed a ballot
limited to those offices and measures for which the elector is
eligible to vote.
(5) For each elector who updates a voter registration after the
deadline in ORS 247.025, the county clerk shall make the official
ballot, the return identification envelope and the secrecy
envelope available by mail at the county clerk's office or at
another place designated by the county clerk. An elector to whom
this subsection applies must request a ballot from the county
clerk. The elector shall mark the ballot, sign the return
Enrolled House Bill 2584 (HB 2584-B) Page 4
identification envelope, comply with the instructions provided
with the ballot and return the ballot in the return
identification envelope to the county clerk.
(6) Notwithstanding subsection (3) or (4) of this section,
replacement ballots need not be mailed after the fifth day before
the date of the election. A replacement ballot may be mailed or
shall be made available in the office of the county clerk.
(7) The ballot or ballot label shall contain the following
warning:
_________________________________________________________________
Any person who, by use of force or other means, unduly
influences an elector to vote in any particular manner or to
refrain from voting, is subject, upon conviction, to imprisonment
or to a fine, or both.
_________________________________________________________________
(8) This subsection applies to an elector to whom subsection
(3) or (4) of this section applies. Upon receipt of the ballot
the elector shall mark it, sign the return identification
envelope supplied with the ballot and comply with the
instructions provided with the ballot. The elector may return the
marked ballot to the county clerk by United States mail or by
depositing the ballot at the office of the county clerk or any
place of deposit designated by the county clerk. The ballot must
be returned in the return identification envelope. If the elector
returns the ballot by mail, the elector must provide the postage.
A ballot must be received at the office of the county clerk or
the designated place of deposit not later than the end of the
period determined under subsection (2) of this section on the
date of the election.
(9) An elector may obtain a replacement ballot if the ballot is
destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received by the elector. The
county clerk shall keep a record of each replacement ballot
provided under this subsection.
(10) A ballot shall be counted only if:
(a) It is returned in the return identification envelope;
(b) The envelope is signed by the elector to whom the ballot is
issued; and
(c) The signature is verified as provided in subsection (11) of
this section.
(11) The county clerk shall verify the signature of each
elector on the return identification envelope with the signature
on the elector's registration card, according to the procedure
provided by rules adopted by the Secretary of State. If the
county clerk determines that an elector to whom a replacement
ballot has been issued has voted more than once, the county clerk
shall not count any ballot cast by that elector.
(12) At 8 p.m. on election day, electors who are at the clerk's
office or a site designated under subsection (2) of this section
and who are in line waiting to vote or deposit a voted ballot
shall be considered to have begun the act of voting.
SECTION 8. { + Sections 2 and 3 of this 2001 Act and the
amendments to ORS 254.007, 254.470, 260.695 and 260.993 by
sections 4 to 7 of this 2001 Act apply only to activities
occurring on or after the effective date of this 2001 Act. + }
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Enrolled House Bill 2584 (HB 2584-B) Page 5
Passed by House May 30, 2001
Repassed by House June 30, 2001
...........................................................
Chief Clerk of House
...........................................................
Speaker of House
Passed by Senate June 20, 2001
...........................................................
President of Senate
Enrolled House Bill 2584 (HB 2584-B) Page 6
Received by Governor:
......M.,............., 2001
Approved:
......M.,............., 2001
...........................................................
Governor
Filed in Office of Secretary of State:
......M.,............., 2001
...........................................................
Secretary of State
Enrolled House Bill 2584 (HB 2584-B) Page 7