deadlines
Gathering 155,000 signatures in 90 days on a petition is a tough ask, even for the most seasoned petitioners. In Oklahoma this is the reality, with only 3 of more than 24 statewide initiatives since 1998 making it to the ballot.
On Sunday, the state’s largest newspaper, The Oklahoman, published an editorial entitled, “Oklahoma initiative petition process needs to change,” which called the state’s petition requirement “too steep.” The paper added, “Lawmakers should study this issue and come up with a lower threshold, one that doesn’t open the ballot to silliness but does give everyday citizens a reasonable chance to possibly effect change.”
If you have signed a petition to put an initiative measure to a statewide vote Nov. 4, your signature may be among thousands that state officials check against voter registration records.
Then again, your signature may not be checked.
Under Oregon’s verification process, sampling is used to determine whether supporters have gathered the minimum 87,213 signatures required to qualify an initiative for the statewide ballot. The number changes every four years, because the Oregon Constitution specifies that it is 6 percent of the total votes cast for governor. For a proposed constitutional amendment, the threshold is 8 percent.
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In recent weeks, both Illinois and Missouri have seen their signature-submission deadline pass with less than a handful of initiative petitions crossing the finish in time.
On the first of May, Illinois term limits supporters submitted nearly 600,000 signatures. Days later, a measure to reform the redistricting process turned in over 500,000 signatures. Both measures are likely to qualify, as the requirement for a spot on this November’s ballot is only 298,399 valid signatures.
On May 4, Missourians submitted two petitions: one measure would provide six weeks of early voting in the Show-Me State and the other would tie teacher retention and pay to student performance, as measured by standardized testing.