Oregon Administrative Code

165-001-0040 Evidentiary Rules (1) Evidence of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the conduct of their serious affairs shall be admissible. (2) Irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. (3) All offered evidence, not objecte…

165-001-0045 Ex Parte Communications (1) An ex parte communication is: (a) An oral or written communication; (b) By a party, a party’s representative or legal advisor, any other person who has a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of the proceeding, any other person with p…

165-001-0050 Proposed Orders in Contested Cases, Filing of Exceptions, Argument, and Adoption of Order (1) The administrative law judge shall prepare a proposed order and serve the proposed order on the agency and each party. The proposed order shall be served not later than 30 c…

165-001-0055 Final Orders (1) Final orders on contested cases shall be in writing and shall include the following: (a) The case caption. (b) The name of the administrative law judge(s), the appearance of the parties and identity of witnesses. (c) A statement of the issues. (d) Re…

165-001-0080 Contested Case Hearings (1) The administrative law judge will hold a hearing by telephone unless the party requesting the hearing specifically requests a personal appearance hearing. If the party requests a personal appearance hearing, the hearing shall be held in Sa…

165-001-0090 HAVA Complaint Procedures (1) The purpose of this rule is to adopt procedures for the receipt and disposition of complaints filed with the Secretary of State, Elections Division alleging violations of Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The rule is…

165-001-0095 Complaint Requirements (1) Any complaint filed pursuant to ORS 260.205 or ORS 260.345 must be signed by an elector of the State of Oregon. (2) A complaint filed pursuant to ORS 260.345 which is filed with an elections filing officer other than the State Elections Div…

165-002-0005 Refunds (1) This rule provides for the refund of fees paid in excess of the amount legally due to the Elections Division. (2) The Elections Division shall not refund fees paid in excess of the amount legally due to the Division if the amount is $10 or less, unless a …

165-002-0010 Schedule and Fees for Providing Copies of Public Records (1) Any person may request photocopies, facsimile (fax) copies, electronically distributed (email) copies, certifications and computer disks of public records which are on file in the Office of the Secretary of…

165-002-0020 Schedule and Fees for Providing Statewide and Less Than Statewide Voter List (1) Any person may obtain an electronic copy of a statewide or less than statewide voter list from the Office of the Secretary of State, Elections Division, or any county elections official.…

165-002-0025 Secretary of State as Filing Officer (1) ORS Chapters 246 through 260 name the Secretary of State as the filing officer for certain candidate filings, initiative, referendum and recall filings, campaign finance reports and other elections documents. (2) For purposes …

165-004-0005 Forms to Petition for Incorporation of a City The Secretary of State hereby adopts by reference and designates the following forms for filing a petition for incorporation of unincorporated territory as a city: (1) SEL 701, Prospective Petition for Incorporation, whic…

165-004-0020 Forms to Petition for Creation of a City Through Consolidation The Secretary of State hereby adopts by reference and designates the following forms for filing a petition to create a city by consolidation of adjoining or nonadjoining cities or unincorporated territory…

165-005-0050 Registration Procedures for Newly Naturalized Citizens (1) The purpose of these rules are to establish procedures for registering to vote an otherwise qualified person who will become a naturalized United States citizen after the registration cutoff but prior to the …

165-005-0055 Designating NVRA Voter Registration Agencies (1) "Voter Registration Agency" means one of the following: (a) Armed Forces recruitment offices operated by the U.S. Department of Defense and Oregon National Guard Recruitment Offices; (b) Oregon Commission for the Blind…

165-005-0060 Collection of Registration Cards (1) Personnel at all agency sites shall forward completed voter registration cards to the County Elections Official of the county in which the agency site is located. If the Secretary of State provides envelopes for forwarding the car…

165-005-0065 Compiling and Reporting Registrations (1) The Secretary of State shall provide to Voter Registration Agencies a print or electronic form to use to report the number of voter registration cards sent to the County Elections Official. (2) At least monthly, on the form o…

165-005-0070 Agency Registration Procedures (1) Personnel at agency sites shall date stamp each voter registration form before it is mailed to the county elections office. The voter registration form should be date stamped with the date it was received from the client, on the fro…

165-005-0080 Request for Delivery and Distribution of Voter Registration Cards (1) The purpose of this rule is to set out the procedures for handling requests for delivery of voter registration cards. (2) All requests for 100 or more voter registration cards shall be accompanied …

165-005-0130 Residence Address Disclosure Exemption (1) The purpose of this rule is to define when a county elections official may exempt the residence address of an elector from disclosure as a public record. (2) The terms used in this rule shall have the same meaning as defined…

165-005-0135 Election Worker Residence Address Disclosure Exemptions (1) The purpose of this rule is to define when elections officials shall exempt the residence address of an election worker or a member of the election worker’s household from disclosure as a public record. (2) …

165-005-0150 Use of Signature Stamp by Disabled Elector (1) For purposes of this rule, "signature stamp or other indicator" means a device capable of printing a representation of a person’s signature on a document. (2) Any voter who is unable, because of a disability, to sign the…

165-005-0160 Electronic Voter Registration System (1) This rule adopts the electronic voter registration system a qualified individual can use to complete and submit a registration electronically. (2) Access to the electronic voter registration system is provided online at www.or…

165-005-0170 Oregon Motor Voter Program (1) Oregon Motor Voter (OMV) Registration During Covered Transactions at the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV) (a) Qualified Individuals Included in OMV Registration at the DMV (A) Must be a United States (U.S.) citizen. (i) …

165-007-0030 Designating the Vote By Mail Procedures Manual. The Secretary of State designates the Vote by Mail Manual revised 03/2024 and associated forms, as the procedures for conducting all vote by mail elections. All vote by mail elections shall be conducted following the re…

165-007-0035 Designating Ballot Request Forms (1) The Secretary of State designates form SEL 111, Absentee Ballot Request Form, as the form an elector who will be away during an election, may submit to a county elections official to request an absentee ballot, except that if the …

165-007-0045 Counting Ballots Received by Mail (1) The purpose of this rule is to establish the procedures elections officials must comply with when counting ballots sent by mail. (2) For purposes of this rule, these terms are defined as follows: (a) “USPS” is the United States P…

165-007-0130 Method of Calculating Total Eligible Voters for Property Tax Measure Elections (1) The purpose of this rule is to assist county elections officials in calculating the total number of eligible voters for purposes of applying Article XI, section 11(8) of the Oregon Con…

165-007-0270 Administrative Recounts (1) The purpose of this rule is to establish a procedure for the conduct of administrative recounts of selected ballots following an election conducted in this state. The Secretary of State, as the chief elections officer for the State of Oreg…

165-007-0280 Spanish Language Ballots A county elections official may choose to prepare and make available an official ballot translated into Spanish for any election. If a county chooses to prepare and make available a Spanish language official ballot the following procedures mu…

165-007-0290 Hand Count of Ballots (1) This rule is adopted to implement hand counts of ballots counted by the vote tally system in the county at every primary, general, or special election as required by ORS 254.529. (2) At every election (whether primary, general, or special), …

165-007-0300 Facsimile Vote Secret Ballot Waiver Form (1) The Secretary of State designates form SEL 531, Email or Facsimile Vote Secret Ballot Waiver Form, as the form to be used by a long term absent elector who is serving in or has been discharged for not more than 30 days fro…

165-007-0310 County Elections Security Plan (1) A security plan shall be submitted to the Secretary of State Elections Division, not later than the 31st of January of each year. (2) Approved Security Plans will be valid from March 1 of each year through the last day of February o…

165-007-0350 Oregon Voting System Certification (1) All voting systems submitted for certification pursuant to ORS 246.550 must be certified by the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) or be examined by a federally accredited voting systems testing laboratory (VSTL). (2) A perso…

165-007-0450 Risk Limiting Audit Provisions (1) The purpose of this rule is to establish a procedure for the conduct of risk limiting audits of selected ballots following an election conducted in this state pursuant to ORS 254.532.The Secretary of State, as the chief elections of…

165-007-0550 Procedure for Reporting Elections Results (1) This rule governs the procedure for announcing the status of the tally of ballots received on and after the date of the election. This rule is intended to encourage frequent reporting. (a) Nothing in this rule shall be co…

165-007-2020 Timelines for the referrals to the November 3, 2020, General Election. (1) When a document is to be filed with the Secretary of State, Elections Division under this rule, the document must be delivered to, and actually received in its entirety, in the office of the S…

165-007-2024 Timelines for the referrals to the November 5, 2024, General Election from the 2023 regular legislative session. (1) When a document is to be filed with the Secretary of State, Elections Division under this rule, the document must be delivered to, and received in its…

165-008-0000 Purpose (1) The purpose of OAR 165-008-0000 to 165-008-0060 is to provide by rule procedures in the event that the Secretary of State is required to prepare a reapportionment plan as provided in Section 6, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution. (2) These rules establ…

165-008-0010 Schedule if Legislature Does Not Complete Reapportionment by July 1 (1) Subsection (3) of Section 6, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution requires the Secretary of State to make the reapportionment if the legislature fails to enact a reapportionment by July 1 of the…

165-008-0020 Schedule if Legislature’s Reapportionment Is Not Approved by the Supreme Court and the Secretary of State Is Directed to Draft a Reapportionment (1) Subsection (2) of Section 6, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution requires the Secretary of State to draft a reapport…

165-008-0030 Conduct of Public Hearings If the Secretary of State is required to hold a hearing pursuant to either subsection (2) or (3) of Section 6, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution, the following shall apply: (1) The Secretary of State, or the Secretary’s designee will be…

165-008-0040 Submission of Evidence or Argument (1) Persons may submit written evidence in the forms permitted by this section within the time permitted under OAR 165-008-0010 or 165-008-0020. If the written evidence is not submitted into the record at a hearing, it shall be deli…

165-008-0050 Limits on Submission of Evidence, Views and Arguments Persons testifying in person at a public hearing or through submission of written evidence, views and argument shall limit their comments to addressing the criteria for reapportionment in Section 6, Article IV of …

165-008-0060 Criteria for Reapportionment (1) In developing a reapportionment plan, the Secretary of State will comply with Section 6, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution, ORS 188.010 and any federal law which imposes requirements in addition to those imposed by the Oregon cons…

165-008-0150 Mass Transit District Reapportionment Process (1) The purpose of this rule is to establish the procedure by which the Secretary of State will divide mass transit districts into subdistricts, pursuant to ORS 267.090. The Secretary of State, as the chief elections offi…

165-010-0005 Designating the Candidate and Political Party Manuals and Forms (1) The Secretary of State designates the State Candidate Manual revised 11/2025 and associated forms as the procedures and forms to be used by candidates filing and running for a federal or state office…

165-010-0011 Candidate Filing Eligibility Verification and Posting Requirements (1) This rule establishes uniform procedures for receiving, public posting, and disclosure of documents described in ORS 249.006 by county and city election officials, and provides provisions for reda…

165-010-0012 Candidate and Public Office Holder Residence Address Exemption (1) This rule establishes uniform procedures for candidates and public office holders to request exemption of their residence address from publicly accessible versions of a nominating petition, declaratio…

165-010-0060 Procedure for Conduct of Meeting to Fill Vacancy in Legislative Assembly The following procedures govern the conduct of a meeting of a county court or board of commissioners (hereafter, county governing body(ies)) to fill a vacancy in the Legislative Assembly. These …