Voters wait in line Tuesday outside of Woodfords Club in Portland. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Portland voters on Tuesday approved a new hazard pay law and changes to short-term rental registrations.

Question A, brought forth by citizen referendum, asked voters whether the city’s hazard pay ordinance should only go into effect when the city declares a state of emergency, not the governor. In 2020, voters approved an ordinance that means Portland workers are paid at least 1.5 times the minimum wage during states of emergency declared by the governor. That was approved by 59% of voters.

Question B, brought forth by the City Council, amends the city code to change the list of information short-term rental operators need to register with the city. It was approved by 67% of voters and requires those with owner-occupied units to show they have a homestead exemption as proof that it is their primary residence, or if the owner is not eligible for a homestead exemption, they can show a redacted copy of their most recent tax return as proof of residency.

The council separately implemented a cap short-term rentals at 1.5% of the city’s rental stock, which is equal to about 290 based on current numbers. That’s far less than the current cap of 400 units for the entire city.

Existing operators would not lose their licenses, but until the number of operators meets the 1.5% cap, the city would stop approving new short-term rental licenses.

Hannah Mason, 19, said she waited in line at Merrill Auditorium for 3½ hours to vote for the first time on Tuesday.

“It was worth the wait. I would wait double that,” she said. “I was actually so excited to be voting I didn’t use my phone hardly at all the whole time I was waiting. I don’t know how I did it.”

Norma Winslow, 70, voted at the Expo Center. She wouldn’t say how she voted on the referendum questions but she was impressed with voter turnout.

“There were a lot of young people and college kids in line,” she said.

The long lines led to some delays in final tabulations.

Jessica Grondin, a city spokesperson, said that as of 7:50 p.m. there were still lines at four polling locations and results would likely take a while.

“It is going to be a while for any results due to the volume of ballots and polling locations that still have lines,” she said.

This story was updated on Nov. 9 to correct information about Question B.