10 for the fall ballot.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Let's pause to send kind thoughts to the county elections workers who have spent recent weeks performing the tedious task of verifying signatures on initiative petitions. Their work is now complete, and Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has determined that 10 initiative measures have qualified for the November ballot. The verifiers, who checked to see whether signatures on petitions matched those on voter registration rolls, have earned a break. Rest your eyes, people.

Petitions for 12 proposals bearing 1,492,743 signatures were delivered to Bradbury's office. A sample of the signatures for each proposal were sent to the petition signers' home counties to be checked. On most of the petitions, about a third of the signatures were found to be invalid. Two proposals - one creating an open primary, and another requiring corporate financial disclosures - were found to have insufficient numbers of valid signatures.

A proposal to require parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion had the highest proportion of valid signatures, 84 percent. Petitions for a proposal to equalize state and federal income tax deductions had the lowest validity rate, 66 percent. Midway through the verification process, Bradbury noted that paid petition-passers were turning in many flawed signature sheets - and indeed, proposals that relied on paid petition drives had the lowest percentages of valid signatures. Signature-gathering, Bradbury said, is the only business he knows of where the amateurs do a better job than the professionals.

The 10 measures on this November's ballot will be the most since 2000, when Oregonians faced 18 initiatives, one referendum and seven proposals referred by the Legislature. The last general election, in 2004, featured only six initiatives and two legislative referrals. Voter fatigue, a voter-approved 2002 measure prohibiting paying petition-passers by the signature, and legal problems that shut down prolific initiative sponsor Bill Sizemore's activities account for the decline.

The 10 measures on the ballot, however, will give voters plenty to study. Among the most controversial will be Measure 48, which would restrict increases in state spending. The spending cap is the product of a national campaign and will have out-of-state money behind it. Both major-party candidates for governor oppose Measure 48, recognizing that it would be difficult to lead a state whose finances were on autopilot.

State finances also will be the central issue in the debate over Measure 41, which would increase state income tax deductions to the level allowed on federal tax forms.

Two measures would affect how Oregonians elect public officials: Measure 45 by limiting legislators' terms, and Measure 40 by requiring that appellate judges be elected from districts rather than statewide. Both proposals have appeared on the ballot before. Two proposals relate to campaign finance: Measure 46 would amend the state Constitution to permit limits on campaign contributions, and Measure 47 would put those limits in place.

Sizemore, the Republican candidate for governor in 1998, is back with Measure 42, an initiative that would stop insurance companies from basing rates on customers' credit scores - a departure from the anti-union and anti-tax measures that were his specialty before he was sidelined by a racketeering lawsuit. Measure 44 would broaden participation in a state prescription drug purchasing pool.

The parental notification proposal, Measure 43, will be the hottest social issue on the ballot - there are no proposals relating to gay rights this year. Measure 39, which would bar governments from using their right of eminent domain to condemn property for private use, arises from the property rights movement that led to the approval of Measure 37, the zoning compensation law, two years ago.

Taken together, the 10 measures present Oregonians with an array of consequential public policy choices. The initiative process empowers voters to act as legislators.

A good legislator is thoughtful, well-informed and studies the issues with an open mind. The November ballot calls upon voters to cultivate those qualities in themselves.