Oregon Public Broadcasting

Starting Monday you can sign on to referendum and initiative petitions with Petey, a new machine. The petition machine is the first in Oregon.

Amelia Templeton reports.

A computer screen on the kiosk shows the text of several proposed state initiatives. Tap the screen and it prints an official petition sheet, which you can sign and mail, or drop into an attached lock box. The machine, called Petey for short, was created by Ross Day, Executive Director of the group Common Sense for Oregon.

Day says the kiosk will let people who don’t have computers or e-mail take advantage of the state’s electronic petition process. Ross Day: “There are some folks who just don’t want to sign petitions because of the human circulating the petitions. At least with this, maybe this will attract some folks who might otherwise not sign petitions.” The state legislature approved electronic petitions in 2007.

Since then, initiative sponsors have e-mailed petition sheets. The secretary of state’s office says that so far electronically gathered signatures have been more reliable than signatures gathered by canvassers. Amelia Templeton, OPB News.