[Busmgrs] An IMPORTANT message from the Oregon Secretary of State's office and SB 229 deadlines for November 2017 elections - SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 deadline

[WILTFONG Michael - ODE]

We have had questions from counties regarding the process for district referrals filed for the November 2017 election. SB 229 became effective on August 18, 2017, due to the emergency clause added by the Legislature at the end of session. The intent of this provision was to bring districts in line with what is currently required for city and county referrals. Specifically, that the final ballot title is required to be filed with counties no later than the 61st prior to the election. However, because the effective date of this legislation was switched from January 1, 2018 to August 18, 2017, we have not been able to update our manual or forms to reflect this new statute for the 2017 cycle.  Our office does not currently have an administrative rule in place for district referrals which provides clarity of what "the ballot title" means, and as a result, we believe that as long as districts file any ballot title not later than the 61st day (September 7th) the referral may be placed on the November 7, 2017 ballot. Nevertheless, this is a question you should consult with your county counsel on since they are the ones who will defend you in court.

Our office is in the process of updating administrative rules and manuals to reflect statutory changes from this past session.  Specifically we are updating the Referral Manual for all future elections after January 1, 2018 to bring districts in line with city and county referrals so that final ballot titles must be filed with the measure no later than the 61st day before an election.

If you have any questions call me or Brenda.

Thank you.

Stephen N. Trout
Director of Elections
Oregon Secretary of State
503-986-2339
steve.trout at oregon.gov<mailto:steve.trout at oregon.gov>

[Oregon Secretary of State My Vote]<https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/showVoterSearch.do?lang=eng&source=SOS>
 www.oregonvotes.gov<http://www.oregonvotes.gov/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/busmgrs/attachments/20170906/1a3ae5cf/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2915 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/busmgrs/attachments/20170906/1a3ae5cf/attachment.png>