Elections

New Rules for Bad Bill

Posted on August 30, 2022 by BJ | 0 Comments

Newsletter from Sen. Kim Thatcher, SD13, 8-30-22: Dear Friends, HD 3291, passed in the 2021 Session making it even more possible to manipulate our elections. According to HB 3291, ballots postmarked the day of the election and received no later than a week afterward will be counted. Now, there is notice of a rulemaking public hearing to create the Rules that…

Supporters of ranked choice voting file petitions to implement it statewide

Posted on January 25, 2022 by BJ | 1 Comments

Supporters of a voting method that allows people to rank candidates in order of preference want to give Oregonians the chance to use the method in statewide elections. It’s called “ranked choice voting.” In Oregon, it’s been used on a limited basis in Benton County. It’s used statewide in Maine and in some American cities. Supporters of the method in…

Oregon’s political numbers as election year dawns

Posted on January 1, 2022 by BJ | 0 Comments

Saturday may be New Year’s Day, but for hardcore political watchers, the first toot of a 2022 party horn also sounds the dawn of an election year full of numbers to remember and crunch. A few key counts: It’s 69 days until the March 8 deadline to file to run for most political offices. And 139 days until the May…

Senate President Peter Courtney Strips Sen. Betsy Johnson of Key Budget-Writing Role

Posted on November 5, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

Johnson is currently co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee. Her looming run for governor as an independent cost her that position. Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) has stripped one of the Legislature’s most powerful and longest-serving members of her position as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee. On Nov. 3, Courtney told Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose),…

Redistricting drama continues

Posted on November 3, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

The fallout from last month’s dramatic redistricting session continues. This week, Rep. Marty Wilde (D-Lane County) joined Republicans who are already challenging several of the state legislative district boundaries as well as the Congressional maps. Whether any of the efforts to seek legal changes will be successful is unclear. However, the legal claims add to the political drama moving into…

Rep. Brian Clem, One of the Longest Serving House Democrats, Resigns

Posted on October 31, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

The representative from Salem will have plenty of options. State Rep. Brian Clem (D-Salem) announced Oct. 29 he is resigning from the Legislature to take care of his ailing mother. “It has been a true honor to serve and represent the people of Salem and District 21,” Clem said in a statement. “At this time, I have decided it is…

Republican legislator Bill Post, who moved to Nevada, resigns effective Nov. 30

Posted on October 13, 2021 by BJ | 1 Comments

After announcing in late September that he had moved to Nevada, Republican state Rep. Bill Post submitted his resignation Tuesday from his position as the House District 25 representative effective Nov. 30. “After further discussions with an elections attorney and talking it over with my wife, it appears that the best action I can take for my district and my…

Oregon governor race: New York Times columnist forms fundraising group

Posted on October 13, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist and author, is the latest person to take an official step into the wide-open 2022 race for governor of Oregon. Kristof filed Tuesday to create a campaign committee. Eight Democrats, counting Kristof, and 12 Republicans have established committees that enable them to raise money for the May 17, 2022, primary election. The candidacy filing…

Portlanders want to see change in form of government, elections

Posted on July 19, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland’s charter commission is moving forward after initial public comments from the community. The independent commission held a public information session last month featuring various organizations and Portland residents speaking up about what they would like to see reviewed within the charter. The two-hour meeting discussed topics such as electoral reform, possibly changing the city’s form…

Dirty Voter Rolls

Posted on July 4, 2021 by BJ | 1 Comments

Janice Dysinger, President of Oregonians for Fair Elections, is a member of the newly formed Clean Voter Rolls Petition Committee that has filed Referendum 302 which would veto HB 2681, introduced by Representative Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis). Their website, CleanVoterRolls.com, provides a printable petition and explains why a referendum is needed: Oregon voter rolls will become dirty and bloated if we…

From the editor’s desk: Ballot initiative would have grave implications

Posted on July 4, 2021 by BJ | 1 Comments

It’s not on the ballot yet, and wouldn’t be until next November (2022). But if the current Initiative Petition 13 gets to voters and passes in 2022, it would radically change how animals can be handled statewide — and ruin many livelihoods in the process. However, in reading the text, it needs to be looked at as one thing and…

Election-day postmarked ballots will count in Oregon

Posted on June 25, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

Oregon, the first state to conduct all elections by mail, would join the ranks of states accepting ballots postmarked by election day under a bill that is headed to Gov. Kate Brown. House Bill 3291 was approved by the Oregon Senate without amendment on a 16-13 vote Thursday, June 24. The key vote was cast by Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Springfield,…

Oregon To Get 6th Seat In Congress

Posted on April 27, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

Following a decade of robust population growth, Oregon will receive a new congressional seat for the first time in 40 years, the U.S. Census Bureau announced on Monday (April 26, 2021). According to the 2020 census, the state’s resident population was 4,237,256 as of April 1, 2020. That’s a 10.6% increase over the 3,831,074 that officials calculated a decade before….

IMPORTANT: Redistricting hearings this week!

Posted on April 8, 2021 by BJ | 0 Comments

from PEOPLE Not Politicians… Friends, We have an opportunity to make our voice heard this week! This Saturday, April 10, the Oregon Legislature’s Special Committee on Redistricting is holding THREE public hearings for comment on mapping Oregon’s new district lines. This is a critical time to speak up! Share how you feel about this process and what you believe should…

Elections Bills Stack the Deck

Posted on February 17, 2021 by BJ | 4 Comments

Recently, US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and US Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) sponsored legislation for national mail in voting. Oregon was the first to have that system and is held up by the Democrats as the model system. Most County Clerks are proud of Oregon elections believing controls in place are working reasonably well. One has to wonder then why…