Page:Address of Frederick V. Holman at Oregon Bar Association annual meeting.djvu/24

 "Any person who is a qualified elector of the State of Oregon may sign a petition for the referendum or for the initiative for any measure which he is legally entitled to vote upon."

Section 11 of the Act of 1907 provides:

"Referendum petitions against any ordinance, franchise or resolution passed by the City Council shall be signed by not less than ten per cent of the voters of said city, and said signatures shall be verified in the manner herein provided."

But there is nothing in the act saying- in what manner the signatures shall be verified, nor how the number of legal voters shall be determined. It is true that in said Section 1 of Article IV a provision is made for ascertaining the number of voters by providing that:

"The whole number of votes cast for Justice of the Supreme Court at the regular election last preceding the filing of any petition for the initiative or for the referendum shall be the basis on which the number of legal voters necessary to sign such petition shall be counted."

But this applies only to initiative and referendum petitions for amendments of the Constitution or on legislation by the people of the whole State.

In said Section 1a of Article IV it is provided:

"The initiative and referendum powers reserved to the people by this Constitution are hereby further reserved to the legal voters of every municipality and district, as to all local, special and municipal legislation, of every character, in or for their respective municipalities and districts. The manner of exercising said powers shall be prescribed by general laws, except that cities and towns may provide for the manner of exercising the initiative and referendum powers as to their municipal legislation."

So it will be seen that while the initiative and referendum powers are granted to the people of a municipality, the manner of the exercise of these powers is not provided in Section 1 of Article IV, and is of no force in regard to initiative and referendum petitions under Section 1a until there be appropriate legislation on the subject.

Until appropriate legislation is had providing how many voters shall sign an initiative petition under Section 1 of Article IV, and also as regards the number of signatures to an initiative petition under Section 1a, or until the