§ ORS § 249.008Verification of signatures by county clerk or Secretary of State; removal of signatures prohibited after submittal; rules

(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 shall
compare the signatures of electors on the petition or minutes with the
signatures of the electors on the elector registration cards. Any petition or
minutes submitted for verification under this section shall contain only original
signatures. The county clerk or the secretary shall attach to the petition or
minutes a certificate stating the number of signatures believed to be 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 be counted by the
officer with whom the petition is filed. No signature in violation of the
provisions of this chapter shall be counted.

(2) If the total
number of signatures presented to a county clerk or the Secretary of State for
verification is 15,000 or more, the county clerk or secretary may use a
statistical sampling technique authorized by the secretary to verify the
signatures. The sample shall be drawn from at least 100 percent of the number
of signatures required for nomination.

(3) After
signatures of electors on a nominating petition, minutes of an assembly of
electors or petition by individual electors are submitted for verification, no
elector who signed the petition or minutes may remove the signature of the
elector from the petition or minutes.

(4) The Secretary
of State by rule shall establish procedures for verifying whether a petition
submitted under this section contains the required number of signatures of
electors. [Formerly 249.055; 1985 c.808 §10; 1989 c.68 §2; 1993 c.493 §6; 2017
c.749 §43]