Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read doesn’t need to allow more arguments against a gas tax question on the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
The decision comes three days after the Republican-led Right to Vote on the Gas Tax Political Action Committee filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Oregon in Portland related to a law that rescheduled the date of a gas tax referendum from November to May. Their first lawsuit, an attempt to block the rescheduled date, failed in Marion County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit alleged Read compressed the time frame people had to turn in the 500 signatures needed to qualify their arguments onto the voters’ pamphlet, particularly impacting people with disabilities and those who cannot pay the alternative $1,200 fee.
Democratic lawmakers this month passed a bill rescheduling a vote from November to May on a controversial 2025 law asking voters whether they’d support raising the gas tax, payroll tax and car registration and title fees. The bill was signed into law on March 2 — blowing past Read’s suggested Feb. 25 deadline to pass the law to allow time for people to collect signatures. Read warned lawmakers that missing this deadline would minimize the time Oregonians had to include their arguments in the voters’ pamphlet.
At least 52 Oregonians who had planned to file arguments for the voters’ pamphlet missed the March 12 deadline to submit signatures to the secretary of state because the timeline was so compressed, according to the suit.
“Today’s ruling leaves 52 Oregonians without a voice in their own election,” said Rep. Ed Diehl, a Scio Republican and organizer behind the gas tax political committee. “These weren’t special interests — they were everyday citizens who tried to participate and were shut out.”
Diehl along with Jason Williams, another organizer behind the gas tax opposition, are two of 28 people or groups who have submitted arguments opposing the measure, according to an early online version of the state-issued guide prepared for military and overseas voters. Seven others submitted arguments in favor.
The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oregon voters in the May 19 primary will have the opportunity to vote on Measure 120. A “yes” vote on the measure would raise most vehicle title and registration fees, increase the gas tax from 40 cents to 46 cents and double the payroll tax used for public transit from 0.1% to 0.2% of a worker’s paycheck until 2028.
Oregon Capital Chronicle
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