Chapter 805 Oregon Laws 2001

 

AN ACT

 

HB 2584

 

Relating to elections; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 254.007, 254.470, 260.695 and 260.993.

 

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

 

          SECTION 1. Sections 2 and 3 of this 2001 Act are added to and made a part of ORS chapter 260.

 

          SECTION 2. (1) This section applies only to elections conducted at polling places.

          (2) The election board, if requested, shall permit authorized persons to be at the polling place to challenge persons offering to vote and to watch the receiving and counting of votes. The authorization shall be in writing, shall be signed by an officer or its county affiliate of a political party, a candidate or the county clerk and shall be filed with the board. The board shall permit only so many persons as challengers or watchers under this subsection as will not interfere with an orderly procedure at the polling place.

 

          SECTION 3. (1) This section applies only to elections conducted by mail.

          (2) After the date that ballots are mailed as provided in ORS 254.470, the county clerk, if requested, shall permit authorized persons to be at the office of the county clerk to watch the receiving and counting of votes. The authorization shall be in writing, shall be signed by an officer or its county affiliate of a political party, a candidate or the county clerk and shall be filed with the county clerk. The county clerk shall permit only so many persons as watchers under this subsection as will not interfere with an orderly procedure at the office of the county clerk.

 

          SECTION 4. ORS 254.007 is amended to read:

          254.007. ORS 254.205, 254.215, 254.226, 254.245, 254.265, 254.275, 254.295, 254.315, 254.325, 254.335, 254.345, 254.355, 254.385, 254.395, 254.405, 254.419, 254.426, 254.435, 254.455, 254.483 and 254.525 and section 2 of this 2001 Act apply only to elections conducted at polling places.

 

          SECTION 5. ORS 260.695 is amended to read:

          260.695. (1) No person shall print or circulate an imitation of the ballot or sample ballot, or a portion of the ballot or sample ballot, which contains information which will not appear, or deletes information which will appear, on the ballot or sample ballot, or that portion of the ballot or sample ballot, unless the imitation of the ballot or sample ballot, or portion of the ballot or sample ballot, contains the following statement in bold type: “NOT FOR OFFICIAL USE.” This subsection does not prohibit the printing or circulation of an imitation of a ballot which illustrates the manner in which a candidate’s name may be written in for an office.

          (2) No person, within any building in which a polling place is located or, in an election conducted by mail, after the date that ballots are mailed as provided in ORS 254.470, within any building in which ballots are issued, or within 100 feet measured radially from any entrance to the building, shall do any electioneering, including circulating any cards or hand bills, or soliciting signatures to any petition. No person shall do any electioneering by public address system located more than 100 feet from an entrance to the building but capable of being understood within 100 feet of the building. The electioneering need not relate to the election being conducted.

          (3) No person shall obstruct an entrance of a building in which a polling place is located. In an election conducted by mail, from the date that ballots are mailed as provided in ORS 254.470 until the time designated by the county clerk for closure of the building on election day, no person shall obstruct an entrance of a building in which a place designated for the deposit of ballots under ORS 254.470 or any voting booth maintained under ORS 254.474 is located.

          [(4) No person, within a polling place, shall wear a political badge, button or other insignia.]

          [(5)] (4) No person shall vote or offer to vote in any election [or at any polling place] knowing the person is not entitled to vote.

          [(6)] (5) No person at a polling place, other than an election board member, shall deliver a ballot to an elector.

          [(7)] (6) No elector [other than an absent elector] at a polling place shall knowingly receive a ballot from any other person than an election board member.

          [(8)] (7) No person shall make a false statement about the person’s inability to mark a ballot.

          [(9)] (8) No person, except an elections official in performance of duties or other person providing assistance to [a handicapped] an elector as described in ORS 254.445, shall ask a person at the polling place for whom that person intends to vote, or examine or attempt to examine the person’s ballot.

          [(10)] (9) No person shall show the person’s own marked or punched ballot to another person to reveal how it was marked or punched.

          [(11)] (10) No elections official, other than in the performance of duties, shall disclose to any person any information by which it can be ascertained for whom any elector has voted.

          [(12)] (11) No person, [other than] except an elections official in performance of duties, shall do anything to a ballot to permit identification of the person who voted.

          [(13)] (12) No elector at a polling place shall deliver a ballot to an election board member except the ballot the elector received from an election board member. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a person from delivering any absentee ballot or ballots to an election board member.

          [(14)] (13) No person at a polling place, except an election board member, shall receive from an elector other than an absent elector a marked or punched ballot.

          [(15)] (14) No elector shall willfully leave in the polling place anything that will show how the elector’s ballot was marked or punched. In an election conducted by mail, no elector shall willfully leave at any place designated for the deposit of ballots under ORS 254.470 or in any voting booth maintained under ORS 254.474, anything that will show how the elector’s ballot was marked or punched.

          [(16)] (15) No person, except an elections official in performance of duties, shall remove a ballot from any polling place, any place designated for the deposit of ballots under ORS 254.470 or any voting booth maintained under ORS 254.474.

          [(17)] (16) No person, except an elections official in performance of duties or a person authorized by that official, shall willfully deface, remove, alter or destroy a posted election notice.

          [(18)] (17) No person, except an elections official in performance of duties, shall willfully remove, alter or destroy election equipment or supplies, or break the seal or open any sealed package containing election supplies.

          (18) No person other than an elections official shall attempt to collect voted ballots within 100 feet measured radially from a location designated for deposit of ballots under ORS 254.470.

          (19) No person, except an elections official in performance of duties, in an election conducted by mail, shall establish a location to collect ballots voted by electors unless the person prominently displays at the location a sign stating: “NOT AN OFFICIAL BALLOT DROP SITE.”

 

          SECTION 6. ORS 260.993 is amended to read:

          260.993. (1) The penalty for violation of ORS 260.532 is limited to that provided in ORS 260.532 (6) and (8).

          (2) Violation of ORS 247.125, 247.171 (5), 247.420 (2), 253.710, 260.402, 260.555, 260.575, 260.615, 260.645, 260.665 (2) or (3) involving any action described in ORS 260.665 (2)(d) to (f), 260.715 or 260.718 is a Class C felony.

          (3) Violation of ORS 260.695 [(5)] (4) is a Class A misdemeanor.

          (4) Violation of ORS 247.171 (6) is a Class C misdemeanor.

 

          SECTION 7. ORS 254.470 is amended to read:

          254.470. (1) An election by mail shall be conducted as provided in this section. The Secretary of State may adopt rules governing the procedures for conducting an election by mail.

          (2) When conducting an election by mail, the county clerk may designate the county clerk’s office or one central location in the electoral district in which the election is conducted as the single place to obtain a replacement ballot under subsection (9) of this section. The Secretary of State by rule shall establish requirements and criteria for the designation of places of deposit for the ballots cast in the election. The places designated under this section shall be open on the date of the election for a period, determined by the county clerk, of eight or more hours, but must be open until at least 8 p.m. At each place of deposit designated under this section, the county clerk shall prominently display a sign stating that the location is an official ballot drop site.

          (3)(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of this subsection, the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable mail an official ballot with a return identification envelope and a secrecy envelope not sooner than the 18th day before the date of an election conducted by mail and not later than the 14th day before the date of the election, to each active elector of the electoral district as of the 21st day before the date of the election.

          (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, if the county clerk determines that an active elector of the electoral district as of the 21st day before the date of the election does not receive daily mail service from the United States Postal Service, the county clerk shall mail by nonforwardable mail an official ballot with a return identification envelope and a secrecy envelope to the elector not sooner than the 20th day before the date of an election conducted by mail and not later than the 18th day before the date of the election.

          (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Secretary of State by rule shall specify the date on which all ballots shall be mailed for any state election conducted by mail under ORS 254.465 (2).

          (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, in the case of ballots to be mailed to addresses outside this state to electors who are not long-term absent electors, the county clerk may mail the ballots not sooner than the 29th day before the date of the election.

          (4) For an election held on the date of a biennial primary election:

          (a) The county clerk shall mail the official ballot of a major political party to each elector who is registered as being affiliated with the major political party as of the 21st day before the date of the election.

          (b) An elector not affiliated with any political party shall be mailed the ballot of a major political party in whose biennial primary election the elector wishes to vote if the elector has applied for the ballot as provided in this subsection and that party has provided under ORS 254.365 for a biennial primary election that admits electors not affiliated with any political party.

          (c) An elector not affiliated with any political party who wishes to vote in the biennial primary election of a major political party shall apply to the county clerk in writing. Except for electors described in subsection (5) of this section, and subject to ORS 247.203, the application must be received by the clerk not later than 5 p.m. of the 21st day before the date of the election.

          (d) If the biennial primary election ballot includes city, county or nonpartisan offices or measures, an elector not eligible to vote for party candidates shall be mailed a ballot limited to those offices and measures for which the elector is eligible to vote.

          (5) For each elector who updates a voter registration after the deadline in ORS 247.025, the county clerk shall make the official ballot, the return identification envelope and the secrecy envelope available by mail at the county clerk’s office or at another place designated by the county clerk. An elector to whom this subsection applies must request a ballot from the county clerk. The elector shall mark the ballot, sign the return identification envelope, comply with the instructions provided with the ballot and return the ballot in the return identification envelope to the county clerk.

          (6) Notwithstanding subsection (3) or (4) of this section, replacement ballots need not be mailed after the fifth day before the date of the election. A replacement ballot may be mailed or shall be made available in the office of the county clerk.

          (7) The ballot or ballot label shall contain the following warning:

 

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          Any person who, by use of force or other means, unduly influences an elector to vote in any particular manner or to refrain from voting, is subject, upon conviction, to imprisonment or to a fine, or both.

 

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          (8) This subsection applies to an elector to whom subsection (3) or (4) of this section applies. Upon receipt of the ballot the elector shall mark it, sign the return identification envelope supplied with the ballot and comply with the instructions provided with the ballot. The elector may return the marked ballot to the county clerk by United States mail or by depositing the ballot at the office of the county clerk or any place of deposit designated by the county clerk. The ballot must be returned in the return identification envelope. If the elector returns the ballot by mail, the elector must provide the postage. A ballot must be received at the office of the county clerk or the designated place of deposit not later than the end of the period determined under subsection (2) of this section on the date of the election.

          (9) An elector may obtain a replacement ballot if the ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received by the elector. The county clerk shall keep a record of each replacement ballot provided under this subsection.

          (10) A ballot shall be counted only if:

          (a) It is returned in the return identification envelope;

          (b) The envelope is signed by the elector to whom the ballot is issued; and

          (c) The signature is verified as provided in subsection (11) of this section.

          (11) The county clerk shall verify the signature of each elector on the return identification envelope with the signature on the elector’s registration card, according to the procedure provided by rules adopted by the Secretary of State. If the county clerk determines that an elector to whom a replacement ballot has been issued has voted more than once, the county clerk shall not count any ballot cast by that elector.

          (12) At 8 p.m. on election day, electors who are at the clerk’s office or a site designated under subsection (2) of this section and who are in line waiting to vote or deposit a voted ballot shall be considered to have begun the act of voting.

 

          SECTION 8. Sections 2 and 3 of this 2001 Act and the amendments to ORS 254.007, 254.470, 260.695 and 260.993 by sections 4 to 7 of this 2001 Act apply only to activities occurring on or after the effective date of this 2001 Act.

 

Approved by the Governor July 19, 2001

 

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 19, 2001

 

Effective date January 1, 2002

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