Oregon Right to Hunt, Fish, and Harvest Wildlife Constitutional Amendment Update
As many of you know we had been diligently gathering signatures for a ballot referendum to provide Oregonians the option to permanently protect the right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife through an amendment to the Oregon constitution in 2016.
We gathered nearly 8,000 signatures for 4 separate (but nearly identical) measures in a very short span. We turned these signatures into the Secretary of State and each ballot measure had enough signatures validated to move forward. However, the Secretary of State claimed our amendment would replace the ENTIRE Oregon constitution. This was a purely political move as our legal team followed the language of previously passed constitutional amendments.
We appealed their decision and then they took it to another level; the Secretary of State determined that our issue (hunting, fishing, wildlife harvest) does not qualify for a ballot referendum. Once again, this is completely politically motivated. At least 17 other states have successfully amended their constitution using nearly identical language. As a result, we are appealing this ludicrous decision to the Oregon Supreme Court.
As many of you know we had been diligently gathering signatures for a ballot referendum to provide Oregonians the option to permanently protect the right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife through an amendment to the Oregon constitution in 2016.
We gathered nearly 8,000 signatures for 4 separate (but nearly identical) measures in a very short span. We turned these signatures into the Secretary of State and each ballot measure had enough signatures validated to move forward. However, the Secretary of State claimed our amendment would replace the ENTIRE Oregon constitution. This was a purely political move as our legal team followed the language of previously passed constitutional amendments.
We appealed their decision and then they took it to another level; the Secretary of State determined that our issue (hunting, fishing, wildlife harvest) does not qualify for a ballot referendum. Once again, this is completely politically motivated. At least 17 other states have successfully amended their constitution using nearly identical language. As a result, we are appealing this ludicrous decision to the Oregon Supreme Court.
