Oregon Progressive Party supports the People, Not Politicians Oregon coalition, promoting voter passage of Initiative Petition #57, which would replace the Oregon system of how the state draws political boundaries every 10 years following the US Census. The current system requires the state legislature to draw those boundaries, thereby putting those elected officials in charge of drawing their own district boundaries. And because only legislators do this work, only Democrats and Republicans are involved, leaving members of other political parties and non-affiliated voters unrepresented in the process. That is not how democracy should work.

IP57 proposes removing that responsibility from the legislature, instead turning that over to 12 person commission composed of 4 citizens from the two major parties and 4 citizens from the rest of the state’s political parties, like the Progressive Party, and non-affiliated voters. All boundaries would need at least one vote from each group to be approved.

The Oregon Progressive Party is writing for your help in getting an anti-gerrymandering initiative on this November’s ballot. We are asking you to sign a petition that will allow Oregon voters to vote for redistricting reform.

The People Not Politicians coalition includes Oregon Common Cause, League of Women Voters, Oregon Progressive Party and many other organizations, both progressive/liberal and conservative.

Oregon is likely to gain an additional congressional district due to the census, so how we redraw our political boundaries is very important. The way the maps are drawn can have a major impact on the outcome of elections.

Initiative Petition 57 would create a new way of redrawing political boundaries – a commission made up of Oregon community members. This would be a public process that is based on census data.

To get this initiative on the ballot, we need your help getting enough signatures. Almost 150,000 valid signatures are required, so we all need to pitch in to get this done, NOW! All signatures must be turned into the Secretary of State’s office in Salem the first week of July.  So we need your help NOW!
Read the Common Cause summary of IP57 here.

COVID-19 has shaken up our world, but democracy issues must still move forward. We ask that you print the petition, sign it and mail it back. Follow instructions on the website to join the fight to end gerrymandering in Oregon!

Signing is simple! Just click on the link below and take a few steps.
https://www.peoplenotpoliticiansoregon.com/sign-the-petition/commoncause/

It’s time we create a fair, impartial and transparent process for drawing district lines, because fair districts mean fair elections.
Thank you very much,