ORS Chapter 249
Chapter 249 — Candidates;Recall
2009 EDITION
CANDIDATES;RECALL
ELECTIONS
GENERALPROVISIONS
249.002 Definitions
249.004 Verificationof documents
249.005 Acceptanceof petition or minutes without original signatures
249.006 Officialdating of petitions and declarations
249.008 Verificationof signatures by county clerk; removal of signatures prohibited after submittal
249.009 Exclusiveform of signature sheets for petitions; numbering of signature sheets; rules
249.012 Preservationof certain records
249.013 Candidacyfor more than one office; effect of filing petition or declaration for morethan one office without prior withdrawal; district and city offices
MAJORPOLITICAL PARTY NOMINATIONS AND NOMINATIONS TO NONPARTISAN OFFICE
(Generally)
249.016 Nominationof candidates of major political party or for nonpartisan office
249.020 Filingof candidates’ nominating petition or declaration of candidacy
249.023 Nominationof major political party candidates who attain age of 18 years after deadlinefor filing nominating petition or declaration of candidacy
249.031 Contentsof petition or declaration
249.035 Filingofficer
249.037 Timefor filing petition or declaration
249.042 Declarationor petition as evidence of candidacy
249.046 Partymembership required for nomination of party; effect of inactive registration;exceptions
249.048 Unsuccessfulcandidate not eligible as candidate
249.052 Verificationof residence of candidate for Legislative Assembly
(Declarationsof Candidacy)
249.056 Filingfees
(NominatingPetitions)
249.061 Onecandidate per petition; prospective petition; statement regarding payment ofpetition circulators; certification of signature sheets
249.064 Informationrequired on petition; certification of petition
249.068 Requirementsregarding number and distribution of persons signing partisan petitions
249.072 Requirementsregarding number and distribution of persons signing nonpartisan petitions
249.076 Qualificationsof signers of petitions
(Nominationof Presidential Candidate by Major Political Party)
249.078 Printingname of candidate for presidential nomination of major party on ballot;discretion of Secretary of State; nominating petition; petition requirements
(Nominationto Nonpartisan Office)
249.088 Determiningnumber of nominees; nomination or election of candidate at nominating election
249.091 Nominationof certain nonpartisan candidates without election
(WithdrawalBefore Nomination)
249.170 Withdrawalof candidacy; refund of filing fee
(Withdrawalfrom Nomination)
249.180 Withdrawalof candidacy by nominee
(FillingVacancy in Nomination or Office)
249.190 Fillingvacancy in nomination of major party; rules
249.200 Nominationby major party to fill vacancy in partisan office; exceptions; rules
249.205 Fillingvacancy in nomination to nonpartisan office; nomination procedure to fillvacancy in nonpartisan office; rules
249.215 Fillingvacancy in state office at general election; remaining term of office
NOMINATIONOF CANDIDATES TO PARTISAN OFFICE BY OTHER THAN MAJOR POLITICAL PARTY
(GeneralProvisions)
249.705 Nominationby other than major party
249.712 Acceptanceof nomination
249.720 Informationto be contained in certificate of nomination
249.722 Timefor filing certificate; filing officers; rules
(Nominationby Assembly of Electors)
249.735 Qualificationas assembly of electors; records; notice; nomination by assembly
249.737 Filingofficer for nomination by assembly of electors
(Nominationby Individual Electors)
249.740 Certificatesof nomination made by individual electors; statement regarding payment ofpetition circulators; certification of signature sheets
(Registerof Nominations)
249.810 Entriesin register of nominations upon filing certificates
(Withdrawals;Filling Vacancies)
249.830 Procedurefor withdrawing nomination
249.842 Fillingvacancy in nomination; rules
249.850 Filingof certificate to fill vacancy in nominations; notifying proper officials tomake changes in general election ballots
RECALLOF PUBLIC OFFICER
249.865 Filingprospective petition; contents of petition; statement regarding payment ofpetition circulators; certification of signature sheets; effect of violation
249.870 Numberof signers on recall petition
249.875 Timefor completing filing; verification of signatures
249.876 Removalof signature after petition submitted for verification
249.877 Statementof justification by public officer
GENERALPROVISIONS
249.002Definitions.As used in this chapter:
(1)“Candidate” means an individual whose name is or is expected to be printed onthe official ballot.
(2)“County clerk” means the county clerk or the county official in charge ofelections.
(3)“Elector” means an individual qualified to vote under section 2, Article II,Oregon Constitution.
(4)“Judge” means judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit court orthe Oregon Tax Court, or any county judge who exercises judicial functions.
(5)“Member” means an individual who is registered as being affiliated with thepolitical party.
(6)“Minor political party” means a political party that has qualified as a minorpolitical party under ORS 248.008.
(7)“Nonpartisan office” means the office of judge, Superintendent of PublicInstruction, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, any electedoffice of a metropolitan service district under ORS chapter 268, justice of thepeace, county clerk, county assessor, county treasurer, sheriff, districtattorney or any office designated nonpartisan by a home rule charter.
(8)“Prospective petition” means the information, except signatures and otheridentification of petition signers, required to be contained in a completedpetition.
(9)“Public office” means any national, state, county, city or district office orposition, except a political party office, filled by the electors.
(10)“State office” means Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, AttorneyGeneral, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, Superintendent ofPublic Instruction, judge, state Senator, state Representative or districtattorney. [1979 c.190 §94; 1983 c.350 §64; 1985 c.324 §1; 1987 c.707 §6; 1993c.493 §5; 1995 c.92 §1; 1995 c.107 §1; 1995 c.607 §76; 2001 c.430 §1; 2009c.491 §6]
249.004Verification of documents. (1) A filing officer may verify the validity of thecontents of the documents filed with the officer under this chapter.
(2)When a copy of any election document filed under this chapter is presented tothe filing officer with whom the original document was filed and a request ismade to have the copy compared and certified, the filing officer shall comparethe copy with the original and, if necessary, correct the copy and certify anddeliver it to the person who presented it. [Formerly 249.014]
249.005Acceptance of petition or minutes without original signatures. (1)Notwithstanding ORS 249.008 and 249.875, a petition or minutes for whichoriginal signatures are otherwise required may be accepted by the county clerkfor signature verification, or by another filing officer in the case of arecall petition, with photographic copies of one or more signature sheets if:
(a)The signature sheets containing the original signatures were stolen ordestroyed by fire, a natural disaster or other act of God; and
(b)The photographic copy of each original signature sheet contains the number ofthe original signature sheet prescribed by the Secretary of State under ORS249.009.
(2)As used in this section, “act of God” means an unanticipated grave naturaldisaster or other natural phenomenon of an exceptional, inevitable andirresistible character, the effects of which could not have been prevented oravoided by the exercise of due care or foresight. [1989 c.68 §11]
249.006Official dating of petitions and declarations. Immediately uponfiling, a nominating petition, declaration of candidacy, withdrawal,certificate of nomination or other document required to be filed under thischapter shall be dated and time stamped by the filing officer. [Formerly249.130]
249.007 [1985 c.508 §4;repealed by 1995 c.607 §91]
249.008Verification of signatures by county clerk; removal of signatures prohibitedafter submittal.(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, before a nominatingpetition, minutes of an assembly of electors, or petition by individualelectors is offered for filing, the county clerk of each county in which thesignatures were secured shall compare the signatures of electors on thepetition or minutes with the signatures of the electors on the elector registrationcards. Any petition or minutes submitted for verification under this sectionshall contain only original signatures. The county clerk shall attach to thepetition or minutes a certificate stating the number of signatures believed tobe genuine. The certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it.A signature not included in the number certified to be genuine shall not becounted by the officer with whom the petition is filed. No signature inviolation of the provisions of this chapter shall be counted.
(2)If the total number of signatures presented to a county clerk for verificationis 15,000 or more, the county clerk may use a statistical sampling techniqueauthorized by the Secretary of State to verify the signatures. The sample shallbe drawn from at least 100 percent of the number of signatures required fornomination.
(3)After signatures of electors on a nominating petition, minutes of an assemblyof electors or petition by individual electors are submitted for verification,no elector who signed the petition or minutes may remove the signature of theelector from the petition or minutes. [Formerly 249.055; 1985 c.808 §10; 1989c.68 §2; 1993 c.493 §6]
249.009Exclusive form of signature sheets for petitions; numbering of signature sheets;rules.(1) The Secretary of State by rule shall:
(a)Design the form of nominating or recall petitions, certificates of nominationby individual electors, minutes of an assembly of electors or minor politicalparty formation petitions; and
(b)Prescribe a system for numbering all signature sheets of nominating or recallpetitions, certificates of nomination by individual electors, minutes of anassembly of electors or minor political party formation petitions.
(2)Regardless of any provision to the contrary in a county or city charter orordinance, for the purpose of nominating city or county candidates, recallingcity or county officers or forming a minor political party, an individual mustuse the applicable form designed under this section. [Formerly 246.180; 1985c.808 §11; 1989 c.68 §3]
249.010 [Repealed by1957 c.608 §231]
249.011 [1957 c.608 §65(1);repealed by 1979 c.190 §431]
249.012Preservation of certain records. Certificates of nomination, acceptancesand withdrawals shall be preserved for two years after the election to whichthey relate. [1979 c.190 §99]
249.013Candidacy for more than one office; effect of filing petition or declarationfor more than one office without prior withdrawal; district and city offices. (1) No personshall be a candidate for more than one lucrative office to be filled at thesame election.
(2)No person shall file a nominating petition or declaration of candidacy for morethan one lucrative office or more than one office of precinct committeeperson beforethe date of the election at which a person will be nominated or elected to eachoffice unless the person first files a written withdrawal, under ORS 249.170,of the person’s initial filing.
(3)If at any time before the date of the election at which a person will benominated or elected to each office it is determined that a person has filedtwo or more nominating petitions or declarations of candidacy for any lucrativeoffice or two or more nominating petitions or declarations of candidacy for theoffice of precinct committeeperson without written withdrawal or withdrawalsintervening, all such filings shall be invalid and any other filing made by thesame person shall be void.
(4)(a)No person shall be a candidate for more than one district office to be filledat the same election. This paragraph does not apply to a district that hasfewer than 10,000 electors residing within the district.
(b)No person shall be a candidate for more than one position on the same districtboard to be filled at the same election.
(c)As used in this subsection, “district” means a district as defined in ORS255.012.
(5)No person shall be a candidate for more than one city office to be filled atthe same election.
(6)Notwithstanding any provision of this section, in the case of a vacancy to befilled by election, the same person is eligible for nomination and election toboth the unexpired and the suc