Oregon Advisory Opinions April 15, 1944: OAG 44-59 (April 15, 1944)
Collection: Oregon Attorney General Opinions
Docket: OAG 44-59
Date: April 15, 1944
Advisory Opinion Text
OAG 44-59.
Governor of Oregon.
Dear Sir: You have requested me to advise you whether or not chapter 100, Oregon Laws, 1943, is applicable to cities and towns having a population less than two thousand, it having been suggested that said chapter is contrary to Article II, section 14a of the Constitution.
Chapter 100, Oregon Laws, 1943, reads as follows:
"The local voters of each city or town shall have authority to make nominations for all elective offices to be filled; in a city or town not required by law to hold a primary nominating election for municipal offices, all nominations for elective offices within said city or town may be made by any regularly called convention of delegates representing the several wards of the city or town, by any convention of legal voters met for such purpose in any ward of said city or town making ward nominations, or by any convention of legal voters met in city convention and representing the several wards in the city, or by certificates of nomination signed by at least twenty-five legal voters in each ward in case of ward nominations, or signed by at least twenty-five legal voters of the city in case of nominations at large; in any event, a certificate of nomination shall be made out and signed by at least twenty-five legal voters of the city or town and filed with the recorder on or before the tenth day preceding the day of any regular election, to entitle the names of parties so named to be placed upon the ticket."
Article II, Section 14a, of the Constitution of Oregon, reads as follows:
"Incorporated cities and towns shall hold their nominating and regular elections for their several elective officers at the same time that the primary and general biennial elections for state and county officers are held, and the election precincts and officers shall be the same for all elections held at the same time. All provisions of the charters and ordinances of incorporated cities and towns pertaining to the holding of elections shall continue in full force and effect except so far as they relate to the time of holding such elections. Every officer who, at the time of the adoption of this amendment, is the duly qualified incumbent of an elective office of an incorporated city or town shall hold his office for the term for which he was elected and until his successor is elected and qualified. The legislature, and cities and towns, shall enact such supplementary legislation as may be necessary to carry the provisions of this amendment into effect."
Section 81-305, O. C. L. A., provides:
"The nominating of candidates for municipal offices shall be governed by this law in all incorporated towns and cities of this state having a population of two thousand and upward, as shown by the last preceding national census. All petitions by the members of such political parties for placing the names of candidates for nomination for such municipal offices on the primary nominating ballots of the several political parties shall be filed with the city clerk, recorder, or auditor, as the case may be, of said several towns and cities. Candidates for nomination for city and town offices of any incorporated city or town of this state as aforesaid mentioned in this section, shall qualify and file for such nomination in such manner as the charter or ordinances thereof may provide, or in event there are no charter or ordinance provisions to that effect, then as the laws of this state may provide. Such nominations shall be certified by the officers of such cities and towns to the county clerk
of the county wherein such city or town is situated, in the manner provided by law."
It is noted that section 14a does not require that all incorporated cities and towns shall hold nominating elections but that such cities and towns as are required to and do hold such elections shall hold them at the same time that the primary and general biennial elections for state and county officers are held, and that the election precincts and the officers shall be the same for all elections held at the same time. Said section also provides that the legislature and cities and towns shall enact such supplementary legislation as may be necessary to carry the provisions of this amendment into effect.
It is my opinion, in view of the foregoing provisions of the Constitution and statutes of this state, that chapter 100, Oregon Laws, 1943, is applicable to cities and towns having a population less than two thousand, and that it is not contrary to Article II, section 14a of the Constitution.