§ ORS § 250.035Form of ballot titles for state and local measures

(1) The ballot title of any
measure, other than a state measure, to be initiated or referred shall consist
of:

(a) A caption of
not more than 10 words which reasonably identifies the subject of the measure;

(b) A question of
not more than 20 words which plainly phrases the chief purpose of the measure
so that an affirmative response to the question corresponds to an affirmative
vote on the measure; and

(c) A concise and
impartial statement of not more than 175 words summarizing the measure and its
major effect.

(2) The ballot
title of any state measure to be initiated or referred shall consist of:

(a) A caption of
not more than 15 words that reasonably identifies the subject matter of the
state measure. The caption of an initiative or referendum amendment to the
Constitution shall begin with the phrase, “Amends Constitution,” which shall
not be counted for purposes of the 15-word caption limit;

(b) A simple and
understandable statement of not more than 25 words that describes the result if
the state measure is approved. The statement required by this paragraph shall
include either the phrase, “I vote” or “vote yes,” or a substantially similar
phrase, which may be placed at any point within the statement;

(c) A simple and
understandable statement of not more than 25 words that describes the result if
the state measure is rejected. The statement required by this paragraph shall
not describe existing statutory or constitutional provisions in a way that would
lead an average elector to believe incorrectly that one of those provisions
would be repealed by approval of the state measure, if approval would not have
that result. Any thing or action described both in the statement required by
paragraph (b) of this subsection and in the statement required by this
paragraph shall be described using the same terms in both statements, to the
extent practical. Any different terms must be terms that an average elector
would understand to refer to the same thing or action. The statement shall
include either the phrase, “I vote” or “vote no,” or a substantially similar
phrase, which may be placed at any point within the statement; and

(d) A concise and
impartial statement of not more than 125 words summarizing the state measure
and its major effect.

(3) The
statements required by subsection (2)(b) and (c) of this section shall be
written so that, to the extent practicable, the language of the two statements
is parallel.

(4) The statement
required by subsection (2)(b) of this section shall be written so that an
affirmative response to the statement corresponds to an affirmative vote on the
state measure.

(5) The statement
required by subsection (2)(c) of this section shall be written so that an
affirmative response to the statement corresponds to a negative vote on the
state measure.

(6) In the
statements required by subsection (2)(b), (c) and (d) of this section,
reasonable discretion shall be allowed in the use of articles and conjunctions,
but the statements shall not omit articles and conjunctions that are necessary
to avoid confusion to or misunderstanding by an average elector. [1979 c.190 §143;
1979 c.675 §1; 1985 c.405 §1; 1987 c.556 §1; 1987 c.875 §1; 1995 c.534 §1; 1997
c.541 §312; 1999 c.793 §1; 2001 c.104 §78; 2009 c.566 §3]