Title 23, Elections

As used in this chapter: (1) “Candidate” means an individual whose name is or is expected to be printed on the official ballot or a write-in candidate. (2) “County clerk” means the county clerk or the county official in charge of elections. (3) “Elector” means an individual quali…

(1) A filing officer may verify the validity of the contents of the documents filed with the officer under this chapter. (2) When a copy of any election document filed under this chapter is presented to the filing officer with whom the original document was filed and a request is…

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 249.008 and 249.875, a petition or minutes for which original signatures are otherwise required may be accepted by the county clerk or the Secretary of State for signature verification, or by another filing officer in the case of a recall petition, with ph…

(1) Immediately upon being filed, a nominating petition, declaration of candidacy, withdrawal, certificate of nomination or other document required to be filed under this chapter must be dated and time stamped by the filing officer. (2) Not more than five business days after a de…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, before a nominating petition, minutes of an assembly of electors or petition by individual electors is offered for filing, the county clerk of each county in which the signatures were secured or the Secretary of State shal…

(1) The Secretary of State by rule shall: (a) Design the form of nominating or recall petitions, certificates of nomination by individual electors, minutes of an assembly of electors or minor political party formation petitions; and (b) Prescribe a system for numbering all signat…

Certificates of nomination, acceptances and withdrawals shall be preserved for two years after the election to which they relate. [1979 c.190 §99]

(1) A person may not be a candidate for more than one lucrative office to be filled at the same election. (2)(a) A person may not file a nominating petition or declaration of candidacy for more than one lucrative office or more than one office of precinct committeeperson before t…

A candidate of a major political party for public office or a candidate for nonpartisan office shall be nominated only in the manner provided in ORS 249.016 to 249.205. [1957 c.608 §65 (2); 1979 c.190 §102; 1993 c.797 §7; 2001 c.721 §4]

(1) An eligible elector may become a candidate for nonpartisan office, or for the nomination to an office by the major political party of which the elector is a member, by filing a nominating petition or a declaration of candidacy. (2) At the time of filing, a declaration of cand…

(1)(a) The Secretary of State by rule shall establish a new provision that must be added to every nominating petition or declaration of candidacy used for public office. The provision established under this section shall: (A) Allow each candidate for public office to check a box …

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, and except as provided in section 8, Article IV, Oregon Constitution, and section 2, Article V, Oregon Constitution, an otherwise qualified person who will attain the age of 18 years after the deadline for filing a nominating petitio…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a nominating petition or declaration of candidacy shall contain: (a) The name by which the candidate is commonly known. A candidate may use a nickname in parentheses in connection with the candidate’s full name. (b) Addres…

A nominating petition, write-in form prepared under ORS 248.019 or 248.021 or declaration of candidacy relating to a candidate for: (1) State office, United States Senator or Representative in Congress shall be filed with the Secretary of State. (2) County office or precinct comm…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a nominating petition or declaration of candidacy shall be filed not sooner than the 250th day and not later than the 70th day before the date of the nominating election. (2) If a vacancy occurs in a partisan elective office after…

When an elector files with the appropriate filing officer the statement and prospective petition under ORS 249.061, or a declaration of candidacy, it is conclusive evidence that the elector is a candidate for nomination or election by the elector’s political party or to the nonpa…

(1) If a candidate has not been a member of the major political party for at least 180 days before the deadline for filing a nominating petition or declaration of candidacy, the candidate shall not be entitled to receive the nomination of that major political party. If a candidat…

A candidate for nomination of a major political party to a public office who fails to receive the nomination may not be the candidate of any other political party or a nonaffiliated candidate for the same office at the succeeding general election. The filing officer may not certi…

(1) For purposes of determining whether a candidate for the office of state Representative or state Senator has been an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen as required by section 8, Article IV of the Oregon Constitution, an elections …

(1) At the time of filing a declaration of candidacy a candidate for the following offices shall pay to the officer with whom the declaration is filed the following fee: (a) United States Senator, $150. (b) Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, Commissi…

(1) A petition for nomination may not contain the name of more than one candidate. (2) Before circulating a nominating petition, the candidate shall deliver to the officer with whom the petition will be filed: (a) A statement signed by the candidate indicating that the candidacy …

(1) A nominating petition of a candidate seeking the nomination of a major political party shall contain a statement that each elector whose signature appears on the petition is a member of the same major political party as is the candidate. (2) A nominating petition of any candi…

(1) Except as otherwise provided for a candidate for nonpartisan office in ORS 249.072: (a) A nominating petition for an office to be voted for in the state at large or for a candidate for Representative in Congress shall contain signatures of members of the same major political …

(1) If the nonpartisan office is to be voted for in the state at large, the nominating petition shall contain at least 1,000 signatures of electors, or a number of signatures of electors equal to at least one percent of the vote cast in the state for all candidates for Governor a…

(1) A person who is not a member of the same major political party as the candidate for nomination by the major political party may not sign the nominating petition of the candidate. (2) Any elector may sign: (a) A nominating petition or certificate of nomination of any candidate…

(1) The name of a candidate for a major political party nomination for President of the United States shall be printed on the ballot only: (a) By direction of the Secretary of State who in the secretary’s sole discretion has determined that the candidate’s candidacy is generally …

(1) Except as provided in ORS 249.091, at the nominating election held on the date of the primary election: (a) Unless a candidate for nonpartisan office receives a majority of the votes cast for the office, the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes are nominated…

(1) If a nominating petition or declaration of candidacy is filed by no more than two candidates for the office of sheriff, county treasurer or county clerk or by no more than two candidates to fill a vacancy in a nonpartisan office: (a) The candidate or candidates are nominated;…

(1) A candidate who has filed a declaration of candidacy or a nominating petition may withdraw not later than the 67th day before the date of the primary election by filing a statement of withdrawal with the filing officer with whom the declaration or petition was filed. The stat…

Any person who has been nominated at a primary election, or any person who has been nominated to fill a vacancy as provided in ORS 188.120 or 249.190 and 249.200, may withdraw from nomination by filing a written statement declining the nomination and stating the reason for withdr…

(1) Except as provided in ORS 254.650, a vacancy in the nomination of a major political party candidate may be filled before the date of the general election by that political party in a manner prescribed by party rule. (2) Immediately after selecting a new nominee, the party, by…

(1) A major political party may nominate a candidate to fill a vacancy in a partisan elective office in the following manner: (a) If the vacancy occurs on or before the 70th day before a nominating election, by selecting a nominee at the next nominating election; or (b) If the va…

(1) If the only candidate nominated to a nonpartisan office dies, withdraws or becomes ineligible, or if a vacancy occurs in the nonpartisan office after the 70th day before the nominating election and on or before the 62nd day before the general election, a candidate for the off…

(1) If a vacancy occurs in a state office before the 61st day before the first general election to be held during that term of office, the remaining two years of the term of the state office shall be filled by the electors at that general election. (2) The remaining two years of …

A minor political party, assembly of electors or individual electors may nominate one candidate for each partisan public office to be filled at the general election by preparing and filing a certificate of nomination as provided in ORS 249.712 to 249.850. [1979 c.190 §125]

(1) To complete a nomination, the nominee must accept the nomination. (2) The acceptance of the nominee may be indorsed upon the certificate of nomination and signed by the nominee, or it may be indorsed by a letter or telegram from the nominee attached to the certificate and fil…

(1) A certificate of nomination shall contain: (a) The name by which the candidate is commonly known. A candidate may use a nickname in parentheses in connection with the full name. (b) Address information as required by the Secretary of State by rule. (c) The office, and departm…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, a certificate of nomination of a candidate for public office shall be filed not sooner than the 15th day after the date of the primary election and not later than the 70th day before the date of the general election. (2) A…

(1) An assembly of electors is an organized body: (a) Of not fewer than 1,000 electors of the state for a statewide nomination. (b) Of not fewer than 500 electors of the congressional district for which the nomination for Representative in Congress is made. (c) Of not fewer than …

(1) The filing officer for the office for which nominations will be considered by an assembly of electors shall supervise the conduct of the nominating convention. The filing officer shall insure that when the assembly of electors makes a nomination, the number of electors requir…

(1)(a) A certificate of nomination made by individual electors shall contain a number of signatures of electors in the electoral district equal to not less than one percent of the total votes cast in the electoral district for which the nomination is intended to be made, for all …

(1) Immediately after each certificate of nomination is filed, the filing officer shall enter in the register of nominations: (a) The date the certificate was filed. (b) The name of each candidate. (c) The office for which the candidate is nominated. (d) When applicable, the name…

(1) A person who has been nominated and has accepted the nomination under ORS 249.712 may withdraw from the nomination by filing with the officer with whom the certificate of nomination was filed a written statement declining the nomination and stating the reason for withdrawal. …

(1) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, before the date of the general election, a vacancy in a nomination made by a minor political party may be filled as provided by party rule. (2) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, before the date of the general election, a vac…

(1) The certificate of nomination to fill the vacancy under ORS 249.842, may be filed directly with the officer with whom the certificate of nomination of the original candidate was filed, or it may be presented in duplicate to any county clerk who shall file one of the certifica…

(1) Pursuant to Article II, section 18, of the Oregon Constitution, an elector of the electoral district from which the public officer is elected may file a petition demanding the recall of the public officer. The production and circulation of the petition must conform to the req…

The requisite number of signers on a recall petition is 15 percent of the total votes cast in the electoral district for all candidates for Governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was elected to a full term next preceding the filing of the petition …

(1) A recall petition shall be void unless completed and filed not later than the 120th day after filing the prospective petition described in ORS 249.865. Not later than the 90th day after filing the prospective petition the petition shall be submitted to the filing officer who …

After a recall petition is submitted for signature verification, no elector who signed the petition may remove the signature of the elector from the petition. [1985 c.808 §21]

(1) A public officer against whom a recall petition has been filed may submit to the filing officer, in not more than 200 words, a statement of justification of the public officer’s course in office. The statement must be filed not later than the fifth day after the recall petiti…