Over 193,000 signatures were submitted on the referendum petition to stop Kotek’s $4.3 billion gas tax/wage tax bill. This far exceeds the 79,000 needed to qualify for the ballot — although validation remains the next step.
They were submitted by a horse drawn carriage, Santa Claus, and petitions in holiday gift wrapped boxes.
Having crossed the legal limit of submitted signatures means that the Elections Office will begin verifying the numbers which can take weeks. Until then, the campaign plans to continue to collect and submit more signatures as they come into the campaign.
Chief Petitioner and State Representative Ed Diehl said,
“The power players said this could not be done. We heard it from everybody that we could not pull this off with volunteers. I took that as a challenge. Everybody took it as a challenge and we did it. We have made Oregon history. Never have so many signatures gathered by volunteers in such a short amount of time”
Chief Petitioner and State Senator Bruce Starr said,
“Thousands of Oregonians from one end of the state to the other said ‘Not on our watch’.. thank you to the thousands of Oregonians who stood out in the rain, the cold, the wind and gathered these signatures.. This is going to resonate into the future, not just for months, but for years”
Cheif Petitioner Jason Williams of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon said;,
“200,000 signatures is the voice of the NO NEW TAXES WITHOUT A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE .Just let us speak. Let us have a voice. Let us have a vote, that is all we ask”
Thanks to you and all involved; (Chief petitioners, Senator Bruce Starr, Representative Ed Diehl, Jason Williams, Taxpayers Association Oregon), No Tax Oregon, Oregon Freedom Coalition, Oregon Liberty Network, Republican Party, Oregon Capitol Watch, Libertarian Party, Lars Larson, social media titans (Rick Dancer, David Madina, PDX Real, @OregonCitizen, OnTheVirg!), petition managers Jodie Fleck & Nick Stark, Team Leader John Swanson, and so many more.
PLEASE NOTE: Please return all petitions with signatures on them so we can honor their signature and them to the final turn-in soon.
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