Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division

OAR 165-014-0270 Circulator Certification

(1) The purpose of this rule is to incorporate into administrative law previously enforced standards on what constitutes a sufficient circulator certification on Initiative, Referendum, Recall, and Candidate Nominating petitions.

(2) A petition signature sheet will be rejected for insufficient circulator certification if:

(a) No signature whatsoever appears below the certification;

(b) No date appears next to circulator’s signature or the date is crossed out;

(c) The date of the circulator certification is earlier than the date of the electors’ signatures, unless the circulator and the only signer are the same person;

(d) Original date is crossed out, and a new date is provided, but the circulator failed to re-sign;

(e) Any part of the original date is overwritten with a different date;

(f) Date information is insufficient or ambiguous. Date must be provided in month, day, year order if written in all numeric characters;

(g) The original signature of a circulator has been crossed out, and a different circulator’s signature is inserted;

(h) Two individuals sign and date as circulator, unless the only signers and the circulators are the same people;

(i) White out appears on the signature or date line;

(j) The circulator has signed using only initials, unless the circulator’s use of initials as a signature is verified by exemplar under paragraph (5) of this rule;

(k) The circulator has signed using a signature stamp, unless use of a signature stamp has been approved under ORS 246.025;

(l) Circulator’s signature is photocopied, carbon-copied, or otherwise appears on the face of the document to be a replicated and not original signature except as provided for in ORS 250.043;

(m) Signature, printed name, and address are all illegible;

(n) Signature alone is illegible, unless the circulator’s use of the apparently illegible signature is verified by exemplar under paragraph (5) of this rule;

(o) Circulator’s signature is in printed script rather than cursive script, unless the circulator’s use of a printed signature is verified by exemplar under paragraph (5) of this rule;

(p) If for any other reason, from the face of the signature sheet, the circulator’s identity cannot be determined or it otherwise cannot be determined that the circulator executed the certification after witnessing the electors’ signatures.

(3) If a petition signature sheet contains elector signatures dated both on or before the date of the circulator’s effective certification and after the date of the circulator’s effective certification, the signature sheet will be accepted with regard to the elector signatures dated on or before the date of the certification, but elector signatures dated after the date of the certification will not be accepted.

(4) The following defects in the circulator certification will not result in rejection of the signature sheet:

(a) The circulator’s signature appears on the printed name line instead of on the signature line;

(b) Signature consists of full last name and at least the first name initial;

(c) The circulator has signed and dated the certification, but has not provided an address or printed name; or

(d) The circulator has re-signed and re-dated the certification and the circulator’s original signature has not been crossed out.

(5) If a preliminary determination is made under paragraph (2)(j), (n) or (o) of this rule that a certification is insufficient, the certification signature may be verified by exemplar in the following manner:

(a) If the circulator is required to be registered under ORS 250.048 Section 2 the Elections Division will compare the certification signature only to the circulator’s signature supplied by the circulator on the circulator’s SEL 308, Circulator Registration. If the certification signature matches the signature on the SEL 308 that was in effect at the time that the signature sheet was certified, the petition signature sheet will be accepted. If the certification signature does not match the signature on the SEL 308 that was in effect at the time that the signature sheet was certified, the petition signature sheet will be rejected for insufficient certification. A certification signature may consist at a minimum of a first name initial and full last name and still be accepted even if the signature on the circulator’s most recent SEL 308 contains a full first name and full last name.

(b) For circulators not required to be registered under ORS 250.048, the Elections Division will compare the certification signature to the circulator’s current Oregon voter registration card signature, if available. If the certification signature matches the voter registration signature, the petition signature sheet will be accepted. If the certification signature does not match the voter registration signature, the petition signature sheet will be rejected for insufficient certification.

(c) If the circulator is not required to be registered under ORS 250.048 and an Oregon voter registration card bearing the circulator’s signature is not available as an exemplar, the Elections Division will compare the certification signature to an alternative exemplar filed with the Elections Division or retained on file by the Elections Division under section (6) of this rule. If the certification signature does not match the alternative exemplar provided or retained under section (6) and (7) of this rule, the petition signature sheet will be rejected for insufficient certification.

(d) If the circulator is not required to be registered under ORS 250.048 and an Oregon voter registration card bearing the circulator’s signature is not available as an exemplar, and an alternative exemplar has not been filed with or retained on file by the Elections Division under section (6) and (7) of this rule, the Elections Division will notify the chief petitioner or the chief petitioner’s designee by telephone and electronic mail, if available, and provide the chief petitioner or designee an opportunity to submit an alternative exemplar of the circulator’s signature.

(A) If an alternative exemplar is requested by the Elections Division not later than the 20th day after signatures are submitted for verification, the chief petitioners or the chief petitioner’s designee must provide the alternative exemplar within 2 days of notification for the alternative exemplar to be considered.

(B) If an alternative exemplar is requested by the Elections Division after the 20th day after signatures are submitted for verification, the chief petitioners or the chief petitioner’s designee must provide the alternative exemplar within 1 day of notification for the alternative exemplar to be considered.

(C) 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. If the certification signature matches the alternative exemplar, the petition signature sheet will be accepted. If the certification signature does not match the alternative exemplar, the petition signature sheet will be rejected for insufficient certification.

(D) The alternative exemplar may be physically delivered to the Elections Division or may be delivered by facsimile transmission or electronic mail. If delivered by electronic mail, the document must be reproduced in .gif or .pdf format. The alternative exemplar must be received at the office of the Secretary of State not later than 5 p.m. of the day it is due.

(6) Chief petitioners may submit alternative exemplars of petition circulators’ signatures at the same time they submit petition signature sheets for signature verification. The alternative exemplar must comply with the requirements of paragraph (5)(c)(C) of this rule. When submitting alternative exemplars, chief petitioners must provide a list of circulators for whom they are submitting alternative exemplars. If no list accompanies the alternative exemplars submitted under this section, those alternative exemplars will not be accepted or used to compare the circulator’s signature to the certification. If an alternative exemplar is omitted from the list, that alternative exemplar will not be accepted or used to compare the circulator’s signature to the certification. Chief petitioners may still be offered the opportunity to submit alternative exemplars under paragraph (5)(c).

(7) Alternative exemplars received and accepted by the Elections Division under paragraphs (5) and (6) of this rule, will be retained on file for two years from the date of receipt.

Stat. Auth.: ORS 246.150, 249.008, 250.105, 250.215, 250.315, 255.175
Stats. Implemented: ORS 249.008, 249.061, 249.740, 249.865, 249.875, 250.045, 250.105, 250.215, 250.315, & 255.175

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