Sajo

We must decide whether signature collectors have standing to seek declaratory and injunctive relief arising out of a state official’s application of rules governing Oregon’s initiative petition process.

I

The Oregon Constitution sets requirements for the number of voter signatures that initiative petition signature collectors must collect to qualify a statutory provision or constitutional amendment for placement on a statewide election ballot. If the chief petitioners wish to place an initiative on the ballot to make a change to statutory law, they must gather signatures amounting to six percent of the votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election. Or. Const, art. IV, § 1(2). The requirement is eight percent for a proposed constitutional amendment. Id.

The State Elections Division follows a two-step process to determine whether a petition contains sufficient signatures. First, the Elections Division verifies the “circulator certifications” that the petition circulators must complete on each signature sheet of a petition, attesting that all the persons who signed the signature sheet did so “in the presence of the circu-lator and that the circulator believes each individual…