OAR 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

(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.