Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for ARA 16.01 Election of Candidates – Candidate Filing and Procedures | October 2025

One way to file for office in the City of Portland is to pay by fee. The current fee to file for office is $75 for Council and $100 for Mayor or Auditor. The proposed increase would result in a $250 fee to file for Council and a $500 fee to file for Mayor or Auditor.

The proposed changes were informed by engagement with community organizations that conduct voter education and candidate training, a feedback survey, and research on cities similar in size to the City of Portland.

The Division is responding to public feedback, a voter survey, and findings from national research in order to reduce reported voter confusion. This confusion was caused in part by the high number of candidates on Portland's ballot in 2024.  After Portland's first election using ranked-choice voting in 2024, the City Elections Division reviewed input on voter experience from a variety of sources:

• Post election polling
• Focus Groups
• Multnomah County's Ballot Data Report
• The League of Women Voters of Portland City Council Survey

These sources largely told the Division that reducing the number of candidates in future elections was advisable. Candidates and voters reported that the high number of candidates caused various challenges in 2024:

• Voters felt overwhelmed
• Some voters skipped contests due to feeling uninformed on the high number of candidates
• The election results were more difficult to read and analyze for some
• Candidates struggled to get resources
• Candidates had a hard time reaching voters with crowded forums and events
• Some voters and candidates also expressed frustration that many candidates did not provide information to the public through a campaign website or any sort of public presence 

To understand how Portland compares with other candidate filing fees around the country, the Elections Division conducted research by looking at policies in other cities and counties. The Division then launched a voter survey to gauge preferences on the fee increase. Following these steps, the Elections Division is proposing a moderate increase to the filing fee.

In July of 2025, the Elections Division launched a public survey of Portland voters to gather feedback on proposed increases to the candidate filing fee. This survey was one factor in the decision to propose a moderate increase.

Over 1,150 survey responses were received from Portlanders. Support was largely split across the three increase options. Slightly more Portlanders favored the highest increase, which would result in a $1,755 fee for Mayor and Auditor and a $1,332 fee for Council.

• Support was split across the minimal, moderate, and high options. Slightly more voters preferred the highest increase at 36% of responses.
• The remainder of preferences were split between the moderate increase (32%) and the minimal increase (32%).
• 75% of responses supported adding an inflationary (cost of living) increase to the fee.
• About 5% of respondents that chose one of the fee increase options commented that they would have preferred no fee increase. Many of the responses against a fee proposed combining a fee with a petition process.

Funds collected from candidate filing fees do not go directly to the Elections Division or the Auditor's Office. Fees go toward the City's General Fund. The largest expense paid by the General Fund is public safety and parks.

This proposed rule maintains the City's low-income fee waiver and makes it easier to qualify for it by removing income thresholds. As proposed, candidates can qualify for a fee waiver by disclosing a government income-based benefit or tax exemption within the last 12 months of filing for office and attest to economic hardship (see Section D. 2. in the proposed rule change).

State elections law outlines the requirements for qualifying to the ballot.Combining these two requirements in the filing isn't aligned with state law. The Division plans to review options to advocate for this change in future elections. 

Elections Division staff conducted jurisdictional research of over 20 cities of similar size to Portland. Portland's filing fees are significantly lower than most cities researched, including San Francisco ($500 for City Officials, $2,000 or 2% of salary for Mayor) and Minneapolis ($250 for City Council, $500 for Mayor).

The recommendation for the filing fee increase comes from the Elections Division. This administrative rule falls within the responsibility of the Auditor's Office, which houses the Elections Division. Portland City Council is not putting forward this administrative rule change. State law and City Code require either a fee or petition to file for office. This rule provides required detail about how to file by either option.

Yes, campaign funds can be used to pay candidate filing fees. There are some state campaign finance rules to keep in mind when using funds from campaign accounts or intended for campaign expenses.

• The fee must be paid from the campaign account via check, debit/credit card, or electronic payment.
• The fee may also be paid personally by the candidate and then reimbursed directly from the campaign account.
• All fees and reimbursements should be tracked regardless of reaching campaign spending and expense thresholds requiring transaction reporting in the state's campaign finance tracking system (ORESTAR). Expense and contribution tracking is recommended for all levels of campaign transactions and is required when hitting the minimum threshold as laid out in the Secretary of State's campaign finance manual.
• Filing fees for candidacy do count toward the minimum $1,500 filing threshold for the Secretary of State.
• Additional details, filing deadlines, and campaign reporting thresholds can be found on the Secretary of State's website.

Yes, all candidates who withdraw by the deadline will receive a full refund. For the 2026 election, the deadline for candidates to withdraw and not appear on the ballot is August 28, 2026.

No, this rule change is unrelated to the City's public campaign finance program, called Small Donor Elections. (Qualifying to appear on the ballot is overseen by different staff within another part of the City, the Portland City Elections Division.) Candidates receiving funds through the Small Donor Program are allowed to use them for the candidate filing fee to appear on the ballot. 

Through the Small Donor Program, the City provides matching funds for candidates who qualify. Candidates qualify by raising a certain number of contributions under $350 from Portland donors.

• The Portland Elections Commission is an advisory body that provides guidance and input directly to the Small Donor Elections program.
• The Small Donor Elections program is separate from the Elections Division. More information and contact information for the program can be found on the program's website.