Lawsuit Sparks Petition Signature Reform Bill

Oregon Public Broadcasting
By Chris Lehman
Salem, OR February 8, 2008 8:38 a.m.

Some people are calling for reform after a recent federal lawsuit over the way Oregon verifies signatures on initiative petitions. Salem correspondent Chris Lehman has more.

Opponents of a gay rights bill sued in federal court saying signatures on a petition to overturn the law were improperly rejected.

The judge threw out the suit but said it raised significant questions about Oregon’s citizen initiative process.

Testimony of Sal Peralta on SB 1083 to the Senate Committee on elections and Ethics, (remarks as prepared for delivery)

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Madame chair,

Distinguished Senators, my name is Sal Peralta. I am speaking here today as chief petitioner on Initiative Petition 3 (2010), as the owner of a business that works on initiative petitioning, and as an Oregon elector.

I have been following the Secretary of State's implementation of the various rules and regulations that pertain to Oregon's Initiative and Referendum system.

The Independent Party of Oregon testified at a interim panel on campaign finance reform, convened by Senator Bill Morrisette.

Political action committees raised and spent more than $67 million on electioneering in Oregon during the 2006 election cycle. $38 million, more than 60 percent of total contributions to political campaigns, came from contributions of $10,000 or more, and more than $28 million came from just 360 contributions of $25,000 or more.

Oregon’s lack of contribution limits allowed organizations such as the Republican Governor’s Association, the Oregon Education Association and others to contribute more than $1 million to individual campaigns in the Governor's race. Several individuals gave between $100,000 and $1,000,000 to candidates in the Governor’s race, when in Federal races, they would have been limited to just $4600.

The ability of wealthy individuals and organizations to contribute unlimited amounts to political candidates exposes our legislative process and our system of elections to corruption and the appearance of corruption in a way that is not possible in most other states, and in federal elections.

In summary, we believe that the legislature should act expeditiously to implement Measure 47 by referring a constitutional amendment to allow contribution limits. Failing that, we would like to see a dialogue begin with the goal of establishing bipartisan support for a system of contribution limits to be paired with a constitutional referral.