Novick and Nesbitt v. Myers; Bosak and Sager v. Myers

Summary

The Oregon Supreme Court reviewed objections to a modified ballot title for Initiative Petition 39 (2002), which concerned union representation and payment for union services. The court held that the modified caption, result statements, and summary did not substantially comply with Oregon law because they failed to accurately identify the measure's effect on employees' ability to receive union representation without payment, and referred the ballot title to the Attorney General for further modification.

Holdings

1. The modified caption did not substantially comply with ORS 250.035 because it failed to identify that the proposed measure would allow workers to receive union representation without paying for it unless and until they requested the representation in writing, and the caption misleadingly suggested that written acceptance was required before representation could be received.
2. The modified result statements and summary also failed to substantially comply with ORS 250.035 because they repeated the misleading written-request description and failed to identify the measure's effect of allowing employees to receive union representation without cost unless they requested it in writing.
3. The court referred the modified ballot title to the Attorney General for additional modification and further proceedings under ORS 250.085(9).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Attorney General's modified ballot-title caption substantially complied with ORS 250.035.
2. Whether the modified result statements and summary accurately identified the subject matter and effects of Initiative Petition 39.
3. Whether the modified ballot title should be referred to the Attorney General for additional modification under ORS 250.085(10)(b).

Disposition

remanded