ORS 250.275: Preparation of ballot titles for certain city measures; correction of clerical errors; notice.

(1) When a prospective petition for a city measure to be referred is filed with the city elections officer, the officer shall authorize the circulation of the petition containing the title of the measure as enacted by the city governing body or, if there is no title, the title supplied by the petitioner filing the prospective petition. The city elections officer immediately shall send one copy of the prospective petition to the city attorney. (2) Not later than the sixth business day after a prospective petition for a city measure to be initiated is filed with the city elections officer, the officer shall send one copy of it to the city attorney if the measure to be initiated has been determined to be in compliance with section 1 (2)(d) and (5), Article IV of the Oregon Constitution, as provided in ORS 250.270. (3)(a) Not later than the fifth business day after receiving the copy of the prospective petition, the city attorney shall provide a ballot title for the city measure to be initiated or referred and certify the ballot title to the city elections officer. (b) If the city attorney determines that a ballot title certified under this subsection contains a clerical error, the city attorney may correct the error and certify to the city elections officer a corrected ballot title not later than the 10th business day after the date the ballot title was certified. (c) A copy of the ballot title shall be furnished to the chief petitioner. (4) Unless the circuit court certifies a different ballot title, the latest ballot title certified by the city attorney under subsection (3) of this section is the title to be printed on the ballot. (5)(a) The city elections officer, upon receiving a ballot title for a city measure to be referred or initiated from the city attorney or city governing body, shall publish in the next available edition of a newspaper of general distribution in the city a notice of receipt of the ballot title including notice that an elector may file a petition for review of the ballot title not later than the date referred to in ORS 250.296. (b) In addition to publishing a notice as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the city elections officer may publish a notice on the city’s website for a minimum of seven days. (6) As used in this section, “clerical error” means a typographical, arithmetical or grammatical error or omission that is evident from the text of the certified ballot title or by comparison of the text of the ballot title with a written explanation that was provided by the city attorney and issued concurrently with the certified ballot title. [1979 c.190 §164; 1985 c.808 §28; 1987 c.707 §9a; 1991 c.719 §22; 2005 c.797 §43; 2011 c.607 §7; 2013 c.519 §4; 2017 c.749 §20]