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--> --> Record number of initiatives filed SALEM (AP) - Oregon political activists and interest groups have set a new record, filing 168 initiative petitions for the November 2002 ballot. The frenetic activity - surpassing the then-record 166 initiative petitions filed two years ago - refutes activists' dire predictions that recent adverse court rulings would put the brakes on Oregon's popular initiative system. In November 2000, Oregonians voted on 26 ballot measures - the most since 1914, when there were 29. The state ballot record is 37 measures in 1912. Ballot title shopping - when initiative advocates file multiple versions of a measure with slightly different wordings - appears to account for much of the increased initiative activity. Bill Sizemore and his Oregon Taxpayers United group filed 40 of the proposed 2002 initiatives, many of them variations on the same theme. Labor unions have filed 29. The secretary of state has cleared 28 measures for collecting signatures. At this point two years ago, 27 had reached that stage, suggesting Oregonians face another crowded ballot in November. A series of court rulings have tossed out initiatives on grounds they amended multiple sections of the Oregon Constitution and should have been considered in separate votes. Those decisions have forced initiative sponsors to narrow the scope of their proposals and prompted Sizemore and others active in initiative campaigns to complain that state courts want to squelch the initiative process. In a September 2000 decision, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled signature-gatherers had no right to circulate petitions inside shopping malls or big stores such as Fred Meyer. Some initiative sponsors say the ruling has hampered signature-gathering for 2002 campaigns. "It's way harder," said Don McIntire, co-author of the Measure 5 property tax limitation of 1990 and sponsor of a handful of new initiatives. Harry Lonsdale, co-sponsor of a campaign finance reform initiative, agrees. "We can't go to malls to gather signatures, where we've gone in the past," Lonsdale said. "That one hurts us a lot." Sizemore, who qualified seven initiatives for the November 2000 ballot, said the court ruling hasn't slowed him down. It's just increased the cost of paying petitioners. "It's just as easy and fast to get signatures as it has been in the past; it's just more expensive," Sizemore said. "I am paying about 50 percent more than I did this time two years ago," Sizemore said. "My cost probably averages 90 cents a signature." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing