Oregon Advisory Opinions October 28, 1966: OAG 66-135 (October 28, 1966)

Oregon Attorney General Opinions

1966.

OAG 66-135.

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A city may require voters to be registered with the city recorder as a prerequisite to their voting in city elections.

Although registered with the city recorder, a person is not qualified to vote in a city election unless he has duly registered with the county clerk as provided by the general voter registration laws.

You state you have been informed that the City Charter of Chiloquin provides that to be eligible to vote in that city's elections one must be "a legal voter of the state of Oregon and be registered with the City Recorder of this city". You ask two questions, the first of which is:

"Under the Constitution and statutes of this state is a resident of the City of Chiloquin who is regularly registered in the County Clerk's office of Klamath County required to also register with the Recorder of the City of Chiloquin to be eligible to vote in the City of Chiloquin elections?"

Article II, § 2 (1), of the Oregon Constitution, provides:

"(1) Every citizen of the United States is entitled to vote in all elections not otherwise provided for by this Constitution if such citizen:

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"(c) Is registered prior to the election in the manner provided by law; * * *"

Article II, § 2, applies to municipal elections. Livesley v. Litchfield, (1905) 47 Or. 248, 83 P. 142; Johnson et al. v. City of Pendleton et al., (1929) 131 Or. 46, 280 P. 873.

The requirement that Oregon electors be "registered prior to the election in the manner provided by law" was added in 1927 by a constitutional amendment containing a clause ratifying certain prior legislative action and adopted under the following ballot title:

"Purpose: To require voters at elections, not otherwise provided for by the constitution, to be duly registered prior thereto in the manner provided by law, as a qualification to be entitled to vote at such election, and to ratify an act passed by the thirtyfourth legislative assembly purporting to carry into effect this amendment, if adopted by the people."

The Act referred to therein is chapter 204, General Laws of Oregon 1927, which repealed provisions of laws existing prior, under which unregistered voters could nevertheless vote on election day upon making an oath before an election judge, with witnesses, that he was otherwise qualified to vote.

Oregon law has provided for registration of voters since 1899 (Laws of Oregon 1899, p. 119). The 1899 law was amended in 1905 (chapter 1, § 39, Oregon Laws 1905) to provide:

"* * * this law shall not operate to prevent any additional registration of voters required by the charter or ordinances of any city or town within the provisions of section 6 of this law [those "having a population of two thousand and upward, as shown by the * * * national or state census"]."

Chapter 323, General Laws of Oregon 1913, purported to repeal the 1899 registration law and § 5 thereof provided: "This law shall not operate to prevent any additional registration required by the charter or ordinance of any city or town."

The 1913 law was declared unconstitutional in Portland v. Coffey, (1913) 67 Or. 507, 135 P. 358, and in 1915 (chapter 225, Oregon Laws 1915) the legislature passed another general registration law which repealed the 1899 law and provided in § 4:

"* * * This law shall not operate to prevent any additional registration required by the charter or ordinance of any incorporated city or town."

This provision was in the law at the time of the 1927 amendment of Article II, § 2, supra, and was codified in 1953 as ORS 247.050 (4). The general election law of 1957 (chapter 608, § 231, Oregon Laws 1957) repealed former ORS 247.050 (4) and § 27 thereof enacted a similar provision as the present ORS 247.211, as follows:

"Nothing in this chapter prevents any additional registration of electors required by any city charter or ordinance provision."

Thus it can be seen that virtually since the beginning of the Oregon general voter registration laws, a policy has been proclaimed by the legislature that such laws were not intended to prevent municipalities from enacting their own voter registration requirements.

It is our opinion therefore in answer to your first question that the phrase "registered prior to the election in the manner provided by law," in Article II, § 2, Oregon Constitution, does not refer exclusively to the general state voter registration laws and that a voter in the City of Chiloquin may be required by the city charter to be registered with the city recorder before he is qualified to vote in city elections.

Your second question is:

"Under the Constitution and statutes of this state would an individual be eligible to vote in the City of Chiloquin elections if he is registered with the City Clerk but not registered with the County Clerk of Klamath County?"

We have already noted that Article II, § 2, applies to municipal elections, and that the purpose of the 1927 amendment included the ratification of an amendment of the general state registration law enacted by the 1927 Legislative Assembly. It therefore must be concluded that the general state registration laws under Article II, § 2, apply to voters at municipal elections unless a contrary intent can be shown in the legislative enactments themselves.

There is no indication in ORS chapter 247, containing the state voter registration laws, that the legislature did not intend its provisions to apply to voters in municipal elections even though the municipality has its own registration requirement. Indeed, the statutory reference to "additional registration" in the language of ORS 247.211 requires a conclusion that ORS chapter 247 does so apply and any municipal registration requirement would necessarily be in addition to those provided therein.

Whatever municipal registration requirement there may or may not be, a voter in any municipal election would have to be registered under the general Oregon registration laws.

The answer to your second question therefore is that a person would not be eligible to vote in a municipal election of the City of Chiloquin if he has not

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properly registered with the county clerk of the county.