Petition title irks immigration reform group

Oregonians for Immigration Reform on Wednesday announced it would challenge the Oregon Attorney General's retitling of a ballot initiative it is sponsoring to make English the official language of the state.

Cynthia Kendoll, president of the group, which last year defeated a referendum to provide driver's cards to residents of the state who could not prove legal residence, said Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is "obstructing democracy by sabotaging a citizens' petition OFIR is sponsoring."

Jim Ludwick, another spokesman for the group, said it should be the goal of the attorney general's office to make sure a ballot title is "understandable."

"But this is not. It's not even close. This is gobbledygook," Ludwick said.The issue began, Ludwick said, when the group collected the required 2,000 sponsorship signatures to qualify an English Ballot Initiative for the November 2016 ballot. The Secretary of State's office is required to create a title that will appear on petitions for signatures and in the official Voters' Pamphlet.

He said Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins' original title was "Requires government actions/communications in English (with specified exceptions), limits laws allowing non-English documents/services."

Ludwick said the American Civil Liberties Union and others challenged the secretary-of-state title, and the attorney general's office issued the following rewrite: "Changes state/subdivision (undefined) laws regarding English/other-language use and requirements; exceptions; authorizes lawsuits."

Kendoll didn't mince words. "The Attorney General is trying to confuse voters. The intent of the ballot title is to give voters an idea of what the initiative is about. This one fails miserably."

She noted that 31 states have English as their official language, and most were accomplished through legislative action. Six states have taken it to the ballot, Kendoll said, and all of them have had clear language.

"They say something along the lines of 'should English be the official language of Arkansas,' for instance. "This isn't even close to being clear," Kendoll said. She said no one who reads the ballot descriptions "could possibly know that the underlying ballot proposal would make English the default language of government operations in Oregon."

David Rogers, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, said the attorney general's office did exactly what was required of it by law. He said the ACLU of Oregon last week filed a friend of the court brief with the state Supreme Court in support of the AG's office.

"If OFIR finds the revised title confusing it's because the measure is confusing and poorly written. Its ambiguity is incredible. If this measure passes, the chances of unintended consequence is extremely high."

Kendoll said opponents to the initiative are intentionally slowing the process. "They know what they're doing. They know we can't collect signatures until we get a ruling and this ballot title is certified," Kendoll said. This official foot dragging "eats up our time to collect signatures. It's a lot harder to collect signatures in December or January," she added.

To qualify for the November 2016 ballot, Oregonians for Immigration Reform must have its signatures collected and turned in to the Secretary of State's office in early July.

"The good news is that this is the No. 1 issue in front of GOP candidates running for president. It's the one everyone is talking about," Ludwick said.