General Information: Certification of Signature Sheets (OAR 165-014-0270)

While processing signature sheets submitted for verification the Elections Division and county elections officials confirm that each signature sheet has a sufficient circulator certification. The following criteria (as adopted in OAR 165-014-0270) are used to determine what constitutes an insufficient or sufficient circulator certification.

Insufficient Circulator Certification

A petition sheet will be rejected for insufficient circulator certification for any of the following reasons:

no signature whatsoever appears below the certification
no date appears next to circulator’s signature or the date is crossed out
the date of the circulator certification is earlier than the date of the electors’ signatures, unless the circulator and the only signer are the same person
the original date is crossed out, and a new date is provided, but the circulator failed to re-sign
any part of the original date is overwritten with a different date
the date information is insufficient or ambiguous
The date must be provided in month, day, year order if written in all numeric characters.
the original signature of a circulator has been crossed out, and a different circulator’s signature is inserted
two individuals sign and date as circulator, unless the only signers and the circulators are the same people
white-out appears on the signature or date line
the circulator has signed using only initials, unless the circulator’s use of initials as a signature is verified by exemplar.
the circulator has signed using a signature stamp, unless use of a signature stamp has been approved under ORS 246.025
the circulator’s signature is photocopied, carbon-copied, or otherwise appears on the face of the document to be a replicated and not an original signature except as provided for in ORS 250.043
the signature, printed name, and address are all illegible
the signature alone is illegible, unless the circulator’s use of the apparently illegible signature is verified by exemplar
the circulator’s signature is in printed script rather than cursive script, unless the circulator’s use of a printed signature is verified by exemplar
or
if for any other reason, from the face of the signature sheet, the circulator’s identity cannot be determined or it otherwise cannot be determined that the circulator executed the certification after witnessing the electors’ signatures

If a preliminary determination is made that a certification is insufficient, the certification signature may be verified by exemplar. For correct procedures on filing an exemplar, refer to OAR 165-014-0270.

Sufficient Circulator Certification

The following defects in the circulator certification will not result in rejection of the signature sheet:

the circulator’s signature appears on the printed name line instead of on the signature line
signature consists of full last name and at least the first name initial
the circulator has signed and dated the certification, but has not provided an address or printed name
or
the circulator has re-signed and re-dated the certification and the circulator’s original signature has not been crossed out

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