Kitzhaber gets it right on Oregon Measure 65
by The Oregonian editorial board
Tuesday October 28, 2008, 4:13 PM
Many Oregon voters are likely to be confused about what to think of
Measure 65, the ambitious makeover of the state's century-old primary
election system.
The OregonianFormer Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber
Political bosses and labor unions hate Measure 65. They're spending
a pile of money trying to defeat it, and they've got a couple of
big-name Oregon Democrats on their side: Gov. Ted Kulongoski and former
Gov. Barbara Roberts.
But two other former governors, Democrat John Kitzhaber and
Republican Vic Atiyeh, strongly support Measure 65. They're right on
this issue and Kitzhaber has been impressively vocal on the subject.
"This ballot measure offers an opportunity to
undo a fundamental injustice in our voting system," he wrote Saturday
on the popular blog blueoregon.com. "It will immediately invite all
[Oregon] voters to meaningfully participate in elections and -- over
the long term -- it will create a space in which Oregonians can rebuild
their trust in government ..."
Oregon's closed primary is a vestige of smoke-filled rooms of the
19th century, when political parties held a tight grip over elections.
The closed system sustains some of that power by freezing out
400,000-plus independent voters who can't participate in the primary
unless they join a party.
"I believe that this kind of exclusion is fundamentally wrong and is
incompatible with the democratic and progressive cause," wrote
Kitzhaber.
He's right. And Measure 65 would address this injustice by opening
Oregon's state and local partisan primaries, allowing every voter to
choose candidates regardless of party affiliation. In each race, the
top two vote-getters would advance to the general election, even if
both were from the same party.
Die-hard partisans loathe this idea because it enfranchises
independents. Organized labor, which holds unprecedented power in Salem
these days, is fighting Measure 65, too, as a threat to the status quo.
One huge union, the Oregon Education Association, has stooped to
deception in this fight. In mass mailings, the teachers group falsely
linked Measure 65 to "Bad Penny Bill" Sizemore, the controversial
initiative peddler who had nothing to do with the measure.
It's easy to understand why the unions object to this reform. Their
reasons, however, have nothing to do with open, accessible democracy in
Oregon.
The U.S. electoral process is marked by expanding rather than
shrinking participation. Voters' rights have been steadily increasing
since the early 19th century, and Oregon now has a chance to join a
growing number of states that are continuing this trend by adopting
some form of open primary.
Look up
Kitzhaber's piece
at blueoregon.com. Read it and then vote the way he and fellow former
Gov. Vic Atiyeh vigorously urge you to, in favor of Measure 65.
--Bob Caldwell, editorial page editor;
bobcaldwell@news.oregonian.com
