OAR 165-014-0270: Circulator Certification

(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, t he 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, t he 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) T he 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. [ED. NOTE: To view attachments referenced in rule text, click here to view rule.]