Secretary of State Rejects Objections to Measure 110 Repeal

The temperature around Ballot Measure 110, the 2020 drug decriminalization initiative, continues to be white hot.

On Jan. 3, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade ruled on a dispute over Initiative Petition 47, one of four initiatives aimed at repealing Measure 110 that critics filed last year and one of two they are trying to move forward.

At issue was the “full text” requirement, which says any petitioners seeking to change a law must include in their filings the full text of the law they seek to change.

After a legal battle, that requirement torpedoed campaign finance reform measures in 2022.

Late last year, Steve Berman, a leading elections lawyer for progressives, made a similar argument about IP 47. “It does not set forth the current versions of statutory provisions the initiative would amend,” Berman wrote in a Dec. 22 letter to Griffin-Valade.

Aaron Landau, an attorney for the petitioners, disputed Berman’s contention in a Jan. 4 response, writing that “any discrepancies between the statutes as set forth in IP 47 and the statutes as they will exist at the time of the November 2024 election are immaterial.”

It turned out Landau’s response was a moot point because Griffin-Valade, the state’s top elections official, had ruled Jan. 3 that the measure “complies with the procedural constitutional requirements.”

The Oregon Department of Justice will now publish a ballot title for IP 47 and one for IP 48 on Jan. 10.

Proponents of repealing 110 are then likely to determine which (if either) ballot title gives them the best chance of success. They will also likely continue to use the possibility of a ballot fight to pressure lawmakers to make changes to Measure 110 during the short session that begins Feb. 5.

For people interested in the nitty-gritty of Measure 110, the Joint Interim Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response (which is grappling with Measure 110) meets Jan. 10 at 11:30 am and the Oregon Health Authority’s Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council meets Jan. 10 at 1:30 pm.