Initiative Petition 28, a controversial measure that would ban the commercial slaughter of animals as well as fishing and hunting across the state, has failed the first level of signature verification necessary to place it on the November ballot. Connor Radnovich, a spokesman for Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, the state’s chief elections officer, confirmed to WW that the initial sample of signatures the Elections Division tested failed to meet the state’s validity threshold. The IP 28 campaign submitted 142,784 signatures on July 2. To qualify for the ballot, the petition needs 117,173 verified signatures. That would require 82%...