democracyLab

The Oregon Open Primary: What it Does, Why it Matters

In the May primary election, all registered Oregon voters – regardless of their own political party affiliation – would receive the same ballot, listing all candidates for major offices: U.S. Senator and Representative; Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, and state legislator.

For each office, a voter could vote for any one candidate, regardless of their -- or the candidate’s -- party registration status. The top two candidates would then proceed to the general election ballot in November – again, regardless of party registration status.

Election officials would list the party registration status of candidates on the May (and November) ballots, based on the candidates’ voter registration cards. An explicit disclaimer on the ballot would note that registration status does not constitute a party endorsement. If a major or minor party officially chooses to endorse one or more candidates, that information would also be printed on the ballot – provided the candidate accepts said endorsement(s).

Non-affiliated -- often called “Independent” -- voters now constitute nearly 25% of registered voters. (For voters 30 and younger, “non-affiliated” is now a more popular choice than either “Democratic” or “Republican.”). Non-affiliated or minor party voters can’t participate in choosing either major party’s nominees – even though the vast majority of races (e.g, legislative seats) are essentially over when the dominant party’s primary nominee is selected.

This system treats Oregon voters unequally; prevents all of them from choosing the best candidates; and for a growing majority, undercuts their confidence in politics, period. Voter turn-out in Oregon’s most recent primary election (May 2006) was just 37% of registered voters. According to an Oregonian study of who actually cast ballots, the median age was almost 60.

By definition, closed primary elections give disproportionate power to highly organized groups and vocal viewpoints within each major party. To win a party nomination – and just as important, to stave off a fierce primary election challenge once elected – candidates and office holders often feel they must adhere to key “litmus tests.” Today, such “career-defining” issues are especially common in such arenas as social issues (e.g. abortion, gay rights), property rights/land use, tax/anti-tax debates, and labor/management prerogatives.

Once in the legislative arena, the “politics of the passionate periphery” remain powerful, as fierce partisan battles often rage over arguably second-tier issues. Meanwhile, truly key challenges – tax and education reform, health care, transportation funding, early childhood education, and land use reform to name just a few –are largely avoided, nibbled at, or punted to the ballot. Elected officials keenly understand the potentially dire consequences of trying to reach across these fierce partisan divides, or question the orthodoxy within their own camp. Indeed, in the last 15 years, more Oregon legislators seeking re-election have lost their seats in primary elections, than in general elections).

The Open primary will allow candidates, from the beginning, to articulate views and approaches to issues that can reach and matter to all voters. In addition to encouraging more, different (and we believe, better) candidates to run for office, it will encourage far more open and interesting dialogue about key issues. Most important, it promises to significantly improve the quality of governing – the ability to make true progress on major issues of real consequence to Oregon’s future.

Since 2003, surveys of Oregon voters have shown overwhelming support for the Open primary reform. A December 2007 survey by Davis-Hibbits found 66-20% support, with strong preference in every demographic group, including registered Democrats (65%), Republicans (62%) and Independents (72%). More than 15 editorial boards have endorsed our initiative gathering effort, which in 2006 fell just short of collecting enough signatures. The initiative must gather approximately 83,000 valid signatures for the 2008 ballot.

Additional Information about the Policy Idea

What is your current strategy for moving this idea forward? What is the general timeline?

The Oregon Open Primary is an initiative campaign. The proposed ballot measure – PT 109 – was filed in June 2007, and in December 2007 received final approval for its ballot title. It will officially begin circulating in January 2008. Between now and July 7, 2008, proponents need to secure approximately 82,000 valid signatures to qualify the initiative to the November, 2008 ballot. A key component of the signature gathering effort will be volunteers, who will collect signatures in public places, go door to door, and work on direct mail, e mail, and follow up phone call efforts. Once the signatures are collected and verified, the campaign to pass and enact the measure will swing into full gear, culminating in the November 4, 2008 election.

Based on the list of prizes that are available for the winner of this contest, what prizes would you select and how would you put them to use?

All of the prizes listed, and their components, would be useful to our effort. The campaign’s biggest need is for volunteer time, since every hour of effort should translate into approximately 8-10 valid signatures towards our goal. As for any monetary contributions, we’d be happy to direct those through the Bus Project’s 501 c (3) for appropriate purposes such as funding forums where we (as well as opponents and neutral parties viz. this idea) could present the topic for public discussion.

Voters in the Progressive Policy Battle Royale commit either money or volunteer time to whichever ideas they support. To which 501c3 organization will such monetary donations go and how will they be used? How will you be able to put volunteers to use and what kinds of tasks will they perform?

As noted above, we will encourage voters to donate volunteer time, since this is a ballot measure campaign – and the Oregon Open Primary is a PAC organization under Oregon law. We clearly recognize that there are restrictions for the appropriate use of peoples’ time, and especially their financial contributions. We will gladly honor those boundaries, recognizing that the fundamentally important thing about our effort is to create a robust and healthy dialogue about the basic structure of Oregon’s election system, and how it can best be modified to serve the needs of today’s and future Oregonians. To that end, any contributions can be directed through the Bus Project’s 501 c (3), or perhaps via another such entity should some of our supporting groups (e.g, the OBA) have such entities available.

Information about the Presenter
Phil Keisling, a graduate of Beaverton’s Sunset High School and Yale College, first worked in politics as a staff member for former Governor Tom McCall’s 1978 gubernatorial bid. After 6 years in journalism – as a Willamette Week reporter, then as an editor of the Washington Monthly in Washington D.C. – he returned to Oregon and worked for several years as a staff assistant to former House Speaker Vera Katz. In 1988, he was elected as State Representative in House District 12, and in 1991 was appointed Oregon Secretary of State, an office in which he served from 1991-99 and where he led efforts for campaign finance reform and Vote By Mail. Since 2000, he has been an executive with a Beaverton based technology services firm with about 125 employees, CorSource Technology Group.
The Oregon Open Primary Campaign is a ballot initiative committee dedicated to qualifying, and then passing, the ballot measure that will allow all Oregon voters, regardless of party registration or lack thereof, to participate on an equal basis in all elections.