Animal activists’ ballot measure to effectively ban all hunting, fishing, trapping, and livestock farming across Oregon failed to make the November 2026 ballot. State election officials determined that it was nearly 13,000 valid signatures short of the requirement.
Though the Oregon secretary of state recorded a total of 142,784 signatures submitted for the petition — beyond the required 117,173 — only 104,262 of them were valid.
A post from the International Order of T. Roosevelt (IOTR) called this a “major victory for hunters and fishermen.”
As National Review previously reported, Initiative Petition 28 — also known as the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act — would have more narrowly defined animal cruelty under the Oregon Revised Statutes, removing exceptions for activities like trapping, fishing, hunting, and raising animals for food. Self-defense and veterinary care would have been the only remaining exceptions.
“Hunters are the original wildlife conservationists and are crucial to sustained propagation of managed wildlife for future generations.” National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane said in a NSSF article published on Monday. “Oregonians are correct to reject this short-sighted and politically-driven agenda that would have annihilated over a century’s work to restore wildlife across Oregon’s landscape.”
Though organizations like IOTR celebrate this victory, they are not finished lobbying in the state. IOTR’s mission is to establish “a constitutional ‘Right to Hunt and Fish’ in all 50 states,” and only 24 states currently have such a right enshrined in their constitution. Oregon is not one of them.
“Oregon’s anti-hunting ballot measure failed to qualify,” IOTR said in a post on Tuesday, “but protecting our hunting and fishing heritage requires constant vigilance.”