City Code Section
- A. The Auditor will not accept a petition for signature verification which does not satisfy the requirements of this chapter and other applicable law. Petitions will be verified in the order in which they are filed with the Auditor.
- B. A petition will not be accepted for signature verification unless it contains at least 100 percent of the required number of signatures.
- C. In computing the required number of signatures, the required number will be a percentage, as provided in this Section, of the number of eligible electors registered in the City on the date of the primary election immediately preceding the date the prospective petition is filed.
- D. An initiative petition must:
- 1. Be filed with the Auditor for signature verification no less than four months before the election date specified on the petition. Failure to meet this filing deadline renders the petition void.
- 2. Be signed by a number of eligible electors equal to or greater than nine percent of the number of eligible electors registered in the City on the date of the primary election immediately preceding the date the prospective petition is filed.
- E. A referendum petition must:
- 1. Be filed with the Auditor for signature verification no later than 30 days after passage of the ordinance sought to be referred; however, it must be submitted to the Auditor at least four months before an election date in order to be placed on the ballot for that election. The four months submission requirement may be waived if the Auditor can complete the signature verification process and meet the counties’ elections filing deadlines, and the provisions of Subsection 2.04.130 B. are satisfied.
- 2. Be signed by a number of legal voters equal to or greater than six percent of the number of eligible electors registered in the City on the date of the primary election immediately preceding the date the prospective petition is filed, except that a petition signed by 2,000 registered voters is sufficient to call a referendum upon any franchise ordinance.
- F. Upon acceptance of the petition, the Auditor will arrange for verification of the validity of the signatures with the county elections officers. Verification may be performed by random sampling in a manner approved by the Secretary of the State of Oregon.
- G. The Auditor will complete the verification process within 30 days after receipt of the petition and will advise a chief petitioner on whether the petition qualifies to be submitted to the voters.
- H. A date will be placed on the petition or on a certificate attached to the petition which shows the date the verification process was completed. Measures which qualify for placement on the ballot will be certified by the Auditor as meeting the requirements of this chapter and will be submitted to the Council for action as provided by Section 2.04.100. The Auditor will certify to the county elections offices each measure which qualifies for placement on the ballot, unless the measure has been enacted by the Council.