SALEM - Eleven initiative campaigns turned in final signatures Friday to jockey for a spot on the Oregon ballot in November, setting the stage for one of the most crowded ballot measure campaign seasons in years.

Given the number of signatures submitted, at least nine of those measures seem likely to make the ballot, including measures to:

- Ban the government from condemning property so that it can be used by a private developer.

- Cap increases in state government spending.

- Expand the state's prescription drug program.

- Allow Oregonians to claim the same personal income tax deduction on state returns as on their federal returns.

- Elect judges for the Oregon Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals by a regional process, instead of statewide.

- Require parental notification if a girl between the ages of 15 and 17 seeks an abortion.

There's no single measure on this year's ballot that packs the emotional wallop of 2004's Measure 36, which prohibited gay marriage in the state and was credited with driving up turnout during a hot presidential election.

But some of this year's measures could prove divisive, boosting voter turnout during a gubernatorial election that's predicted to be close. Oregon League of Women Voters chair Margaret Noel said she expects the measures on abortion and state spending will yield particularly emotional debates.

Groups are already mobilizing against the state spending limit initiative and the proposed change to the tax code, the abortion measure and a measure backed by longtime anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore which would prohibit insurance companies from taking people's credit scores into account when their rates are calculated.

The Secretary of State's office has 30 days to validate the signatures turned in by ballot measure campaigns. At least 100,840 signatures must be valid for a measure that would amend the state's constitution, and 75,630 are needed to make a change to statutory law. As a general rule of thumb, about 30 percent of the signatures on any given petition are tossed out for being invalid.

No campaign this year matched the 240,000 signatures turned in by backers of the gay marriage ban in 2004, the highest number of initiative signatures ever collected in the state.

But plenty of campaigns left themselves with comfortable cushions, including two related measures to limit campaign contributions with 157,099 signatures submitted for a constitutional amendment and 124,522 signatures submited for the associated change in state law. Oregon is one of just five states which currently places no limits on campaign contributions.

The judicial redistricting measure also collected a high signature total, with over 170,000, while advocates of term limits for legislators turned in an estimated 162,000 signatures.

Other campaigns cut things far closer. The open primaries campaign collected just 93,154 signatures, meaning that over 80 percent of their signatures will need to be valid to gain a spot on the ballot. Under such a system, all voters would receive a ballot listing all candidates, allowing the top two vote getters to advance to the general election.

State Sen. Ryan Deckert, a spokesman for the open primary measure, said funding for the petition drive was lower than expected.

“Usually, you get one out-of-state six-figure donor who funds the paid signature gathering,” Deckert said. “Our largest donation is only about $15,000 or $20,000.”

And a campaign for universal health care turned in just about 115,000 signatures, which its backers called too close for comfort.

State Elections Director John Lindback said that in order to account for problems like duplicate signatures, a measure that would amend state law needs a cushion of about 120,000-130,000 signatures; one to amend the constitution should figure on about 140,000-150,000, he said.

--

On the Net: http://egov.sos.state. or.us/elec/web-irr-search.search -form