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…
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…
SALEM, Ore. — 2022 brings a fresh start for us all, and it also means a lot of bills passed in Oregon during the 2021 session go into effect. On police reform, Senate Bill 621 gives Portland the go-ahead to create its new citizen-led police oversight board. Previously, state labor law was unclear on if the city and police union…
This last, painful session of the Oregon Legislature was difficult for many reasons. The building was utterly off limits to everyone but legislators and their staff, meaning there was no ability to “lobby” legislators or staff, and the actual hearings were remote, meaning there was none of the usual interchange, conversation and rarely even any questions. The result has been…
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,…
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