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Oregon ballot measure to criminalize hunting and fishing falls short, but organizers aren't done

7/27/2026

Initiative Petition 28, which would have effectively criminalized hunting, fishing, ranching, and farming in Oregon, will not appear on the November ballot after its supporters failed to produce enough valid signatures.

The read-through is less comfortable: chief petitioner David Michelson has said plainly that 2026 was never the target year, and the campaign came close enough this cycle to raise the question of what stops the next one.

How the signature count came apart IP28's supporters submitted more than 142,000 signatures, well above the 117,173 threshold required to qualify.

After two rounds of verification, the Oregon Secretary of State's Office found only 104,262 valid. The shortfall came to roughly 13,000 signatures.