GMO laws

Chuck Burr, who operates an organic seed farm near Ashland, works hard to keep genetically engineered crops from contaminating his. Proponents hoped a GMO labeling measure would raise awareness of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.

(Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

In final tallies posted by Monday's 5 p.m. deadline, GMO labeling Measure 92 lost by just 809 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast in this fall's Nov. 4 general election.

That razor-sharp margin of just 6 one-hundredths of 1 percent means votes on Measure 92 will be subject to an automatic recount.

Secretary of State Kate Brown has said she won't make the official determination whether a recount is required until next week. But it is clear the margin of defeat is much smaller than the 0.2 percent margin that triggers an automatic recount under Oregon law.

The measure was one of seven statewide issues on the fall ballot. Three passed, most notably Measure 91 to legalize recreational marijuana.

Three failed by wide margins: Driver cards for undocumented immigrants, a top-two primary system and state borrowing to endow a college financial aid fund.

Oregon voters' decision on those six measures was crystal clear on election night, with only partial ballot returns counted.

But the vote on Measure 92, which would have required prominent labeling of food contained genetically modified ingredients, was much closer.

The Oregonian did not declare a winner on election night, but did make the call the next day that voters had rejected Measure 92. That proved to be highly controversial, even after The Oregonian explained its rationale in detail.

Elections officials in some counties had collected thousands more ballots than they reported to the state, and as they tallied those heavily pro-Measure 92 votes, the margin moved into recount territory. But there were not enough votes to fully close the gap.

The last time Oregon held a recount on a statewide vote was in 2008 on a statewide measure that was even closer than this one: a property seizure measure that appeared to have passed by just 550 votes. A recount found it actually passed by 681 votes.

Oregon has never had a statewide recount that reversed the initial finding of which way voters had cast more ballots.

-- Betsy Hammond