Lawsuit filed opposing May primary gas tax vote

SALEM – Several Republican Oregon representatives have filed declarations of support for a lawsuit that is asking for a temporary restraining order against the Democrat-led legislative decision to put a no-tax vote on the May primary ballot instead of the more highly-attended November general election.

Mary Martin v. Tobias Read is a federal lawsuit that contends putting the ballot measure on the earlier election day prevents low-income and disabled Oregonians from submitting arguments to the official Oregon Voters Pamphlet. Martin is a 73-year-old Klamath Falls resident who uses a wheelchair and lives on Social Security.

Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby) says that Martin was a key volunteer in the campaign to refer costly portions of House Bill 3991 (a $4.3 billion transportation tax and fee hike) to the voters. She helped gather more than 250,000 signatures to force the tax and fee increases to be approved by the voters, not the legislators and governor.

Martin’s lawsuit argues that the recently passed Senate Bill 1599, which moves the election from November to May, imposes an unconstitutional barrier to political participation by requiring citizens who want to publish arguments in the voters’ pamphlet to either pay a $1,200 fee or gather 500 signatures within a matter of days. The fee or signature requirement deadline is Thursday of next week (March 12). 

The complaint asks the federal court to issue an injunction allowing Martin and other similarly situated citizens to submit arguments to the Voters’ Pamphlet without paying the $1,200 fee or gathering 500 signatures. In the alternative, the lawsuit asks the court to prevent the referendum from being moved from the November 2026 ballot to the May 2026 election.

The lawsuit was filed by Fir Law Group of Silverton and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to restore access to the voters’ pamphlet for disabled and low-income voters across Oregon.

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Elkhorn Media Group