elections – League of Women Voters of the Umpqua Valley

More About Ranked Choice Voting

Learn about Ranked Choice Voting by viewing this Powerpoint presentation.

Here’s a link to the League’s Executive Summary of study on Election Methods now on our Publications webpage. For the full study, visit the state League’s study page.

Oregon currently uses first-past-the-post, plurality voting, but there are other possibilities. The executive summary describes many election methods used by different states and countries.

Also see the News-Reviews article published on 1/14/20 on this topic.

Download the flyer below about this event.

Vote411

The League of Women Voters of the United States now owns and operates Vote411.org. There is a wealth of voter information there, national, state and local, so check it out!

Vote411.org

Campaign Finance Reform Forums

Representative Dan Rayfield of District 16, Corvallis, Oregon, is organizing a number of forums addressing CFR, Campaign Finance Reform.

In the 2019 Legislative Session, the legislature made gains regarding campaign finance reform by increasing transparency and increasing access for voters. Oregon still remains one of five states without campaign contribution limits. More can be done.

A CFR forum by Rep. Dan Rayfield will be held in Eugene on Sep. 5.

7:00 – 8:30pm at the University of Oregon, Global Scholars Hall Room 123 –
1710 E 15th Ave,
Eugene, OR 97403
Facebook event

You can also contact Rep. Dan Rayfield for more details.

There’s more information here as well. There are 7 forums scheduled in Oregon. Perhaps you will be able to attend one.

If you would like to carpool to this event, let us know by calling [541] [672] [1914].

Support SB 870

ACTION ALERT! Support SB 870, National Popular Vote

Date: April 2, 2019
To: All League Members and Oregonians
From: Norman Turrill, LWVOR President
Marge Easley, NPV Portfolio Chair

CONTACT YOUR SENATOR TO URGE SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE (NPV)

Success is within reach to make Oregon the next state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. SB 870 will be heard in the Senate Rules Committee on April 3 at 1pm. This is the same bill that has passed the House four times in recent sessions, only to be blocked in the Senate each time. Fourteen jurisdictions with 184 electoral votes have already passed the bill. Eighty-six votes are needed before the Compact goes into effect.

Please email your state senator as soon as possible to urge support for SB 870. Here are a few helpful talking points:

The League’s national position states that “the direct-popular-vote method for electing the President and Vice President is essential to representative democracy.” The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact provides an excellent pathway to achieve this goal.
The Electoral College in its current form creates an unfair system and damages public trust in U.S. elections. If left in place, our country will continue to have a system in which votes in some states are worth more than votes in others.
Winner-take-all laws were passed by most states during the 1800s and were never envisioned by the founding fathers. The result of winner-take-all laws is that presidential campaigns only pay attention to the 11 swing states. Voters in non-swing states tend to feel that their votes don’t matter, so some decide not to vote at all.
NPV allows all votes to be counted equally, no matter where they are in the country. Under NPV, urban areas would not hold more sway than rural areas, since the combined population of the 100 biggest cities is about one-sixth of the population, roughly the same as the population of rural America.
The candidate with the most votes wins in every other election in the country. The U.S. is the ONLY practicing democracy where the candidate with the most votes is not assured of being chosen the national leader. Polls have shown for decades that more than 70% of voters, in both major parties, have felt that the candidate with the most popular votes should be the winner.

We appreciate your immediate action on this issue. You can find your senator’s contact information here. Also, please consider attending this historic hearing to demonstrate a strong show of League support.

For more information, contact Marge Easley, NPV Portfolio Chair.

NPV

National Popular Vote.

Call your legislators! The following are excerpts from our Legislative Reports that the League of Women Voters of Oregon produces each week and their website.

Thanks to all who responded to the NPV Action Alert.

Please keep the pressure on legislators to vote yes on SB 870. We are seeing nationwide momentum for election reform, which includes an acknowledgement of the flaws in our Electoral College system. It’s especially important to provide Oregon’s Republican legislators with facts (LINK to Answers to Common Questions about National Popular Vote) to counter the partisan myths about NPV.

Here’s a sampling of NPV news from around the country:

Delaware, 3 electoral votes. On March 7, the NPV bill passed the Delaware Senate on a bipartisan vote and is now headed to the House for likely passage. The governor has indicated he will sign it. This just happened.
New Mexico, 5 electoral votes. We await news from where the bill sits in the Senate Rules Committee after passage in the House.
Maine, 4 electoral votes. There are high hopes for as the legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee recently voted 6-3 to endorse NPV on a party line vote.
Colorado, 9 electoral votes. The NPV bill awaits the governor’s signature . Opponents have threatened to put a popular referendum on the ballot to attempt a reversal.

Eleven Democratic-leaning states and the District of Columbia already have voted to enter the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Democrat-controlled Colorado will soon join the list, giving the compact 181 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to elect the president.

In Oregon, SB 870, the Senate version of the National Popular Vote Bill, was introduced on February 25 with an unprecedented 40 sponsors and 8 chief sponsors. This is the same bill that has been blocked by Senate leadership after passage in the House four times in recent sessions. However, we are very hopeful that this year will be different.

NPV supporters have just been told that Senate President Courtney and Senator Ginny Burdick are finally willing to allow a Senate vote on the NPV bill this session. It is important that legislators hear from as many constituents as possible that support for NPV is high. Please call or email your state legislators as soon as possible to urge support for SB 870.

Check the National Popular Vote website for the latest updates.

Call your legislators!

Redistricting Forum Round 2

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You are invited to an educational forum about Redistricting, AKA Gerrymandering.

If you would like to know more about this important subject that affects every election, please attend.

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019
1:30 to 3:30 PM
Roseburg Public Library
1409 Diamond Lake Blvd, Roseburg, OR
South Umpqua Room

Here’s a link to a PDF that will fill you in about how/why it’s done in Oregon.

Link to why we do redistricting all over the country. It’s all about the national census that will take place in 2020, making the next census critical to redistricting done in the following year, 2021.

Here’s a great link to the Brennan Center information on the subject.

Please plan on attending this interesting meeting. The state League of Women Voters of Oregon will present a compelling case. Let’s hear from you, too!

This meeting is open and free to the public. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, email lwvuv.info@gmail.com or call [541] [672] [6982].

House & Senate Candidates Fair Video Now Online

Video Now Online: Oregon House Districts #2 & #7 and Oregon Senate District #1 Candidates Fair

The Candidates Fair was held in the evening on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at the Holiday Inn Express in Roseburg, Oregon. Thank you All for attending!

Candidates include:

Megan Salter Senate House District #2
Christy Inskip House District #7
Cedric Hayden House District #7
Shannon Souza Senate District #1

Also see The News-Review report on Oct. 17.

Thank you, Frosland Photography, for the video!

Roseburg Council Candidates Video is Up

The video of the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum for Roseburg City Council Wards 2 & 4 is now online. See below. paul-dufour-500191-unsplash

And don’t forget to check your registration to vote! Tomorrow Oct. 16 is the last day to register to vote in Oregon. Register here.

See Vote411.org – this is the League’s online voting information service that covers the whole country.

Also on Tuesday, Oct. 16, we will hold the last candidates’ forum before the Nov. 6 election. Please attend this Candidates’ Fair for Oregon House Districts 2 & 7 and Oregon Senate District 1 candidates.

Photo by Paul Dufour on Unsplash.

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Candidate Fair Oct 16

Please attend the League of Women Voters of Umpqua Valley’s Candidate Fair on —

Tuesday, Oct. 16
7PM to 8:30PM
Holiday Inn Express
375 W Harvard in Roseburg, OR

State legislative candidates Cedric Hayden, Christy Inskip, Megan Salter and Shannon Souza are all invited to this Candidate Fair.

The public is invited to attend, hear the candidates’ ideas for improving our state, and ask pertinent questions in a casual setting.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

For more Information call 541-672-1914 or 541-672-6982.

Roseburg City Council Forum Oct. 11

Please attend the League of Women Voters of Umpqua Valley’s Candidates Forum on Thursday Oct. 11 to be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 375 W. Harvard in Roseburg.