Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 If you're running a campaign backed by the state's top elections official, you'd damn well better follow Oregon's election laws. Apparently Laura Culberson, the field director for Ballot Measure 60, either didn't know or didn't care about them. Measure 60 would require that all statewide elections in Oregon be conducted by mail-in ballot. It is backed by Secretary of State Phil Keisling, a big vote-by-mail booster. Culberson's problems stemmed, in part, from the campaign's effort to avoid using paid signature gatherers. To qualify Measure 60 for the ballot, the campaign mailed out tens of thousands of blank petitions, urging people to sign them and send them back. Though this practice is perfectly legal, election laws require that every signature sheet be witnessed and signed by an Oregon registered voter. People can be their own witnesses by signing twice. Last week, Harry Esteve, a reporter for The Register-Guard in Eugene, disclosed that scores of ballots for Measure 60 came back to the campaign office without witness signatures. Rather than toss them out or send them back, Culberson signed some of them herself, making it appear as if she was present when the sheet was signed. Culberson, who reportedly has retained a lawyer, is not talking to reporters. Campaign manager Jeremy Wright says the campaign has asked elections officials to investigate the matter. Wright also says that if Culberson signed petitions that were mailed to the campaign, the number of signatures affected would be minimal, and not disqualify the measure from the November ballot. Still, Culberson broke the law: Falsely verifying a signature is a Class C felony and carries penalties of up to $100,000 and five years in prison. Most troubling is that none of this would have come out if critics of the measure hadn't been on the ball. The Executive Club, anti-tax guru Don McIntire's conservative coalition, looked at all the signature sheets turned in and noticed Culberson's signatures. The group then notified the media. It shouldn't be this way. If the voters had a right to expect any campaign to be run cleanly, it was this one. Thanks to Culberson, a ballot measure aimed at improving the democratic process now raises questions about it.     originally published September 30, 1998