75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 2728
Senate Bill 776
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON RULES
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Adjusts fees related to materials to be included in voters'
pamphlet. Requires Secretary of State by rule to provide for size
and length of statements.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to the voters' pamphlet; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 251.095, 251.115, 251.255, 251.285 and 251.325.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 251.095 is amended to read:
251.095. (1) At the time materials are filed under ORS 251.065,
each candidate for nomination or election to any of the following
offices shall pay to the Secretary of State the following fee for
space in the voters' pamphlet:
(a) President or Vice President of the United States, United
States Senator, Representative in Congress or any state office to
be voted for in the state at large, { - $1,000 - } { +
$____ + }.
(b) State Senator, state Representative or any other office,
{ - $300 - } { + $____ + }.
(2) The space allotted to each candidate shall be used for
materials filed under ORS 251.065, including the portrait and
statement of reasons the candidate should be nominated or elected
and the information required under ORS 251.085. If a portrait is
not filed, the statement may cover the entire allotted space. The
length of the statement shall not exceed 325 words. { - All
materials submitted by a candidate under ORS 251.065 shall fit
within 30 square inches of space. - } All candidates shall be
allowed the same amount of space. { + The Secretary of State by
rule shall prescribe the size of the space allotted to each
candidate except that the space may not be smaller than 30 square
inches. + }
SECTION 2. ORS 251.115 is amended to read:
251.115. (1) Not later than the 70th day before the general
election, the party officers as designated in the organizational
documents of any statewide political party or assembly of
electors having nominated candidates may file with the Secretary
of State a printed or typewritten statement of arguments for the
success of its principles and election of its candidates on a
statewide basis and opposing the principles and candidates of
other political parties or organizations on a statewide basis.
(2) Not later than the 70th day before the general election,
the party officers as designated in the organizational documents
of any less than statewide political party or assembly of
electors having nominated candidates may file with the Secretary
of State a typewritten statement of arguments for the success of
its principles and election of its candidates on a county basis
and opposing the principles and candidates of other political
parties or organizations on a county basis.
(3) { + The Secretary of State by rule shall prescribe + } the
size of the statements permitted under this section { - shall
not exceed 60 square inches for - } { + except that + } any
statewide political party or assembly of electors having
nominated candidates { - and 30 square inches for - } { +
shall be allotted more space than + } any less than statewide
political party or assembly of electors having nominated
candidates. The fee for a statement filed under this section
shall be { - $600 - } { + $____ + } for any statewide
political party or assembly of electors having nominated
candidates and { - $300 - } { + $____ + } for any less than
statewide political party or assembly of electors having
nominated candidates.
SECTION 3. ORS 251.255 is amended to read:
251.255. (1) Not later than the 70th day before a general
election or the 68th day before a special election held on the
date of any primary election at which a state measure is to be
voted upon, any person may file with the Secretary of State a
printed or typewritten argument supporting or opposing the
measure.
(2) A person filing an argument under this section shall pay a
fee of { - $500 - } { + $____ + } to the Secretary of State
when the argument is filed or may submit a petition in a form
prescribed by the Secretary of State containing the signatures of
1,000 electors eligible to vote on the measure. Each person
signing the petition shall subscribe to a statement that the
person has read and agrees with the argument. The signatures on
each petition shall be certified by the county clerk in the
manner provided in ORS 249.008. The petition shall be filed with
the Secretary of State.
(3) The Secretary of State by rule shall establish the size and
length of arguments permitted under ORS 251.245 and this section
{ - . The size and - } { + , except that the + } length of an
argument may not exceed { - 30 square inches or - } 325 words.
The size and length limitations shall be the same for arguments
submitted under ORS 251.245 or this section.
SECTION 4. ORS 251.285 is amended to read:
251.285. (1) If any county measure or any measure of a
metropolitan service district organized under ORS chapter 268,
and the ballot title, explanatory statement and arguments
relating to the measure, are to be included by the Secretary of
State in the state voters' pamphlet as provided in ORS 251.067,
the requirements of this section shall be satisfied.
(2) The county or district measure, ballot title, explanatory
statement and arguments shall not be printed in the voters'
pamphlet unless:
(a) The ballot title is a concise and impartial statement of
the purpose of the measure;
(b) The explanatory statement is an impartial, simple and
understandable statement explaining the measure and its effect;
(c) The county or metropolitan service district adopts and
complies with an ordinance that provides a review procedure for a
ballot title or explanatory statement which is contested because
it does not comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) or (b)
of this subsection;
(d) The county or metropolitan service district adopts and
complies with an ordinance that provides for acceptance of
typewritten arguments relating to the measure { + not to exceed
325 words + } to be printed { - on 30 square inches of - }
{ + in + } the voters' pamphlet; and
(e) The county or metropolitan service district does not
require of a person filing an argument a payment of more than
$300, or a petition containing more than a number of signatures
equal to 1,000 electors eligible to vote on the measure or 10
percent of the total of such electors, whichever is less.
(3) Any judicial review of a determination made under the
review procedures adopted under subsection (2)(c) of this section
shall be first and finally in the circuit court of the judicial
district in which the county is located or, for a district
measure, in the circuit court of the judicial district in which
the administrative office of the metropolitan service district is
located.
(4) If the county or metropolitan service district has adopted
and complied with ordinances prescribed in subsection (2) of this
section, the decision to include the county or district measure,
ballot title, explanatory statement and arguments in the voters'
pamphlet shall be made by:
(a) The county governing body with regard to any county measure
or the council of the metropolitan service district with regard
to any district measure;
(b) The chief petitioners of the initiative or referendum with
regard to a county or district measure initiated or referred by
the people. The chief petitioners shall indicate their decision
in a statement signed by all of the chief petitioners and filed
with the county clerk or, for a district measure, with the
executive officer of the metropolitan service district; or
(c) A political committee, as defined in ORS 260.005, that
opposes the county or district measure. The committee shall
indicate its decision in a statement signed by every committee
director, as defined in ORS 260.005, and filed with the county
clerk or, for a district measure, with the executive officer of
the metropolitan service district.
(5) The county or metropolitan service district shall file the
measure, ballot title, explanatory statement and arguments with
the Secretary of State not later than the 70th day before the
general election or the 68th day before a special election held
on the date of any primary election. The county or district shall
pay to the Secretary of State the cost of including the county or
district material in the pamphlet as determined by the secretary.
The Secretary of State shall not have this material printed in
the pamphlet unless:
(a) The time for filing a petition for judicial review of a
determination made under subsection (2)(c) of this section has
passed; and
(b) The measure, title, statement and arguments properly filed
with the county or metropolitan service district, are delivered
to the secretary.
SECTION 5. ORS 251.325 is amended to read:
251.325. (1) The Secretary of State by rule shall adopt a
schedule and procedures for preparing, printing and distributing
county voters' pamphlets. The schedule and procedures shall
include but not be limited to deadlines for filing material for
the voters' pamphlet, and except as otherwise provided by law,
the format of material to be submitted and the size and other
requirements applicable to candidate portraits.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, at
the time materials are filed under ORS 251.335, each candidate
for nomination or election to the following offices shall pay to
the county clerk the following fee for space in the county
voters' pamphlet:
(a) An office to which a salary or other compensation beyond
expenses is attached, { - $100 - } { + $____ + }.
(b) An office to which a salary or other compensation beyond
expenses is not attached, { - $25 - } { + $____ + }.
(3) At the time materials are filed under ORS 251.335, each
candidate for nomination or election to a city or county office
at the primary or general election shall pay to the county clerk
the following fee for space in the county voters' pamphlet:
(a) If the number of active electors in the electoral district
is less than 1,000, { - $25 - } { + $____ + }.
(b) If the number of active electors in the electoral district
is 1,000 or more and less than 10,000, { - $50 - } { +
$____ + }.
(c) If the number of active electors in the electoral district
is 10,000 or more and less than 50,000, { - $100 - } { +
$____ + }.
(d) If the number of active electors in the electoral district
is 50,000 or more, { - $300 - } { + $____ + }.
(4) The Secretary of State by rule shall adopt a schedule of
fees to be charged by the county clerks for including arguments
in the voters' pamphlet. The fees need not reflect the actual
cost of producing the voters' pamphlet.
(5) The county clerk shall refund a filing fee described in
this section to any person who applies for the refund not later
than the last day for filing material for inclusion in the
voters' pamphlet. When a refund is made, the material for which
the fee was paid may not be included in the pamphlet.
(6) As used in this section, 'electoral district' means a
county, the part of a city located within the county or, if a
candidate is elected by zone or subdistrict of the county or
city, the zone or subdistrict in which the candidate is nominated
or elected.
SECTION 6. { + The amendments to ORS 251.095, 251.115,
251.255, 251.285 and 251.325 by sections 1 to 5 of this 2009 Act
apply to space in voters' pamphlets prepared on or after the
effective date of this 2009 Act. + }
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