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Ballots heading for mailboxes to decide Measures 49, 50 for mailboxes
By Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | No comments posted.
SALEM — After a barrage of TV ads about two contentious referendums, state officials have begun mailing 2 million ballots for the Nov. 6 election.
The mailings began Friday and must be completed by Tuesday.
Elections officials aren’t making voter turnout predictions. But they said this off-year election should bring out more voters than usual due to a profusion of TV ads prompted by the two measures, both of which were placed on the ballot by the 2007 Legislature.
One is Measure 49, which would limit development allowed under the Measure 37 property-rights law approved by voters in 2004. The other is Measure 50, which would increase cigarette taxes and use the money to pay for children’s health insurance.
“It seems like a pretty lively election. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to have a pretty healthy turnout,” state Elections Director John Lindback said Friday.
Earlier this week, an election spending watchdog group issued figures showing that with nearly three weeks to go, the two measures already had attracted more than $18 million in campaign spending — an “unprecedented” amount for an off-year election.
That eclipses the total of $17.9 million spent for and against 10 measures on the November 2006 ballot, according to Democracy Reform Oregon.
With ballots now headed for voters’ mailboxes, some groups weren’t going to rely just on TV ads to get their message out.
The Democratic Party of Oregon, for example, announced that it would have more than 100 volunteers in 14 counties go door-to-door this weekend and next to urge people to vote “yes” on both measures.
Lindback said turnout may match the record 60 percent of voters who cast ballots in November 1997 when lawmakers put a proposed repeal of Oregon’s assisted suicide law on the ballot. Voters upheld the law.
“This year’s measures might not have quite the emotional appeal of the assisted suicide issue, but when you throw all that money into a campaign like the sides have done this year, it’s probably going to boost turnout,” the state elections chief said.
Under Oregon’s all vote-by-mail system, ballots can by returned by mail — they have to reach local election offices by Nov. 6 — or by using one of nearly 300 official drop sites throughout the state.
The mailings began Friday and must be completed by Tuesday.
Elections officials aren’t making voter turnout predictions. But they said this off-year election should bring out more voters than usual due to a profusion of TV ads prompted by the two measures, both of which were placed on the ballot by the 2007 Legislature.
One is Measure 49, which would limit development allowed under the Measure 37 property-rights law approved by voters in 2004. The other is Measure 50, which would increase cigarette taxes and use the money to pay for children’s health insurance.
“It seems like a pretty lively election. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to have a pretty healthy turnout,” state Elections Director John Lindback said Friday.
Earlier this week, an election spending watchdog group issued figures showing that with nearly three weeks to go, the two measures already had attracted more than $18 million in campaign spending — an “unprecedented” amount for an off-year election.
That eclipses the total of $17.9 million spent for and against 10 measures on the November 2006 ballot, according to Democracy Reform Oregon.
With ballots now headed for voters’ mailboxes, some groups weren’t going to rely just on TV ads to get their message out.
The Democratic Party of Oregon, for example, announced that it would have more than 100 volunteers in 14 counties go door-to-door this weekend and next to urge people to vote “yes” on both measures.
Lindback said turnout may match the record 60 percent of voters who cast ballots in November 1997 when lawmakers put a proposed repeal of Oregon’s assisted suicide law on the ballot. Voters upheld the law.
“This year’s measures might not have quite the emotional appeal of the assisted suicide issue, but when you throw all that money into a campaign like the sides have done this year, it’s probably going to boost turnout,” the state elections chief said.
Under Oregon’s all vote-by-mail system, ballots can by returned by mail — they have to reach local election offices by Nov. 6 — or by using one of nearly 300 official drop sites throughout the state.
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