In the Press

A TALE OF TWO STATE CAPITALS, AND TWO INITIATIVE REVIEWS

From NBC: This week, statewide ballot initiatives in both Oregon and California are coming up for formal public review. But those reviews are very different — and the differences demonstrate how Oregon is taking initiatives more seriously than California. On Wednesday morning in Sacramento, a state legislative committee devoted a total of three hours on hearings […]

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OUR OREGON SHIRKS ITS DUTY TO VOTERS

From The Statesman Journal: Oregon’s public-employee unions are trying to sabotage voters’ understanding of the initiative process. That’s the one conclusion we can draw from Our Oregon’s unwillingness to participate in a weeklong citizen review of the group’s initiative on the November ballot. Our Oregon, which is financed by public-employee unions, is sponsoring Measure 85. It

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CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE REVIEW DOES HELP VOTERS, STUDY SHOWS

From The Oregonian: Our Oregon has claimed that the Citizens’ Initiative Review has “zero impact” on voters’ opinions. The basis for this claim is a National Science Foundation-funded report on which I was lead author. As such, I hope to bring some clarity to this matter and respond to The Oregonian editorial on the topic, “A

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CITIZENS’ INITIAITVE REVIEW PROBLEMS SHOW IMPROVING DEMOCRACY TAKES WORK

From The Oregonian: We appreciate the attention that The Oregonian’s editorial board recently gave to Oregon’s new Citizens’ Initiative Review, an innovative program that empowers members of the public to deliberate and offer recommendations on state ballot initiatives (“A bad omen for review panels,” Aug. 2). The Citizens’ Initiative Review is based upon the very simple principle

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STOP WASTING OUR TIME WITH MEANINGLESS BALLOT ARGUMENTS

From NBC: I’ve just read the official arguments for and against (and the arguments against the for argument and against the against argument) all 11 statewide measures on November California ballot. These are the arguments you’ll see in the voter information guide. And I wish I had that time back. The arguments don’t tell you much. They are political

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KEEPING VOTERS INFORMED

From The Eugene Resgister-Guard: A year ago, the Oregon Legislature wisely chose to institutionalize a promising pilot project that convenes panels of citizens to weigh the merits and deficiencies of ballot measures and report back to voters. This week, the project has hit a speed bump — one that shouldn’t affect its long-term success, but which

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OREGON’S ROAD TO CLARITY ONLY AWAITS SENTATE APPROVAL

From The Oregonian: To get through the day anymore is to withstand a blizzard of incoming information: from the Web, from electronic and print news providers, from handheld devices and chirping phones, from blaring billboards and drivetime radio, from the dancing teen in the sandwich outfit pointing the way to Subway. Much of it is dismissable.

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REVIEWING DEMOCRACY

From Oregon Public Broadcasting: A nonprofit group has brought together a randomly selected group of citizens to act as a kind of jury to assess two of the initiatives on this year’s ballot. The nonprofit Healthy Democracy Oregon designed each panel of 24 people per ballot measure to represent the demographics of the Oregon electorate. There are no

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OREGON CITIZENS PANEL WILL WEIGH IN ON BALLOT MEASURES FOR NOVEMBER ELECTION

From The Oregonian: Kenny Burke didn’t think he’d be chosen. He had returned the postcard, mostly at the behest of his wife. Only weeks later, Burke learned he’d been selected to be part of a panel that would review a citizen initiative bound for the November ballot. And for the first time, a citizen panel’s opinion

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WATCH THE NEW INITIATIVES EXPERIMENT AT CONFERENCE CENTER

From The Statesman Journal: By Peter Wong An experiment in how Oregon voters look at ballot initiatives will unfold starting Monday — an experiment worth watching, literally, at Salem Conference Center. Just like a jury in a courtroom, a panel of 24 voters from throughout the state will hear from advocates and opponents of an initiative

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CITIZENS’ REVIEW AIMS TO PROVIDE EVALUATIONS

From Eugene Register-Guard: The initiative process asks a lot of citizens, particularly when voters are bombarded with conflicting claims by well-financed campaigns. In this election cycle, Oregon will have some help: A random sampling of people from around the state will gather for an intensive evaluation of two initiatives on the November ballot, and findings will

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SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE SUN IS A GREAT IDEA

From The East Oregonian: Love-hate is a good description of Oregon voters’ relationship with our state’s fabled initiative and referendum. On the one hand, voters are possessive of the ballot initiative. On the other hand, these ballot proposals are notoriously complicated, and their campaigns typically generate more heat than light. Most statewide ballot proposals are blunt

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SHOW INITIATIVE

From The Hillsboro Argus: A panel of citizens have issued their verdict on Measure 58. Their recommendation: Reject it. Measure 58 would limit the number of years non-native students may be taught in the language of their birth: one year for elementary students, two for those in high school. The evaluation came as the result of

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