Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 260.555 (2026)

Prohibitions relating to petitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORSoregonlegislature.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

      260.555 Prohibitions relating to petitions. (1) A person attempting to obtain signatures on, or causing to be circulated, a petition or prospective petition that is being circulated in accordance with the laws of this state may not knowingly make any false statement regarding the contents, meaning or effect of the petition or prospective petition to any person who signs it, attempts to sign it, is requested to sign it or requests information concerning it.

      (2) If a person knows that a petition, or prospective petition, that is otherwise being circulated in accordance with the laws of this state contains a false signature, the person may not attempt to obtain signatures on, cause to be circulated, or file with a filing officer, the petition or prospective petition.

      (3) If a person knows that another person is not qualified to sign a petition or prospective petition that is being circulated in accordance with the laws of this state, the person may not attempt to obtain the signature of the other person on the petition or prospective petition.

      (4) A person may not knowingly sign more than once any petition or prospective petition that is being circulated in accordance with the laws of this state, knowingly sign such petition or prospective petition when not qualified to sign it, or sign such petition or prospective petition in any name other than the person’s own.

      (5) A public official or employee may not knowingly make a false certification concerning a petition or prospective petition that is circulated in accordance with the laws of this state. [1979 c.190 §376; 2001 c.489 §1; 2023 c.600 §15]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1984–2020 · leading case: State ex rel Sajo v. Paulus, 688 P.2d 367 (Or. 1984).
State ex rel Sajo v. Paulus, 688 P.2d 367 (Or. 1984). “” Other procedures are phrased in permissive language: “Chief peti;ioners should review with all circulators of a petition the legal prohibitions and guidelines as set forth in ORS 260.555 hrough 260.585, for obtaining signatures on the petition.”
State v. Hirschman, 379 P.3d 616 (Deschutes Cty. Cir. Ct., O.R. 2016). “, ORS 260.555(3) (prohibiting any “attempt to obtain the signature of a person to an initiative, referendum or recall petition knowing that the person * * * is not qualified to sign it”)).”
Couey v. Clarno, 469 P.3d 790 (Or. Ct. App. 2020). “The single restriction on a circu- lator’s speech is described in ORS 260.555(1), which prohib- its a person from “knowingly mak[ing] any false statement regarding the contents, meaning or effect of the petition to any person who signs it, attempts to sign it, is requested to…”
State Ex Rel. Sajo v. Paulus, 688 P.2d 367 (Or. 1984). “" Other procedures are phrased in permissive language: "Chief petitioners should review with all circulators of a petition the legal prohibitions and guidelines as set forth in ORS 260.555 through 260.585, for obtaining signatures on the petition.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 260.555(1) — 1 case
Couey v. Clarno, 469 P.3d 790 (Or. Ct. App. 2020). “The single restriction on a circu- lator’s speech is described in ORS 260.555(1), which prohib- its a person from “knowingly mak[ing] any false statement regarding the contents, meaning or effect of the petition to any person who signs it, attempts to sign it, is requested to…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 260.555(3) — 1 case
State v. Hirschman, 379 P.3d 616 (Deschutes Cty. Cir. Ct., O.R. 2016). “, ORS 260.555(3) (prohibiting any “attempt to obtain the signature of a person to an initiative, referendum or recall petition knowing that the person * * * is not qualified to sign it”)).”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.