Oregon Ballot Measure 65 (2008)

Measure 65
Changes general election nomination processes
for major/minor party, independent candidates
for most partisan offices.
Results
Votes %
Yes 553,640 34.09%
No 1,070,580 65.91%
Total votes 1,624,220 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 85.7%
Results by county
  Yes —   No
Source: Oregon Secretary of State [1]

Ballot Measure 65 was an initiated state statute ballot measure for the November 4, 2008 general election ballot in the state of Oregon. If it had passed, it would have replaced the current closed primary election system for partisan offices, in which each political party nominates its own candidate for the general election. The system proposed by Measure 65 bore similarities to a blanket primary and nonpartisan blanket primary.

Under Measure 65, voters would have received the same ballot regardless of their own party registration. For each partisan position, the ballot would list all candidates, also without regard for party registration. Voters would choose one candidate, and the two candidates with the most votes would advance to the November general election. The measure would have affected chapters 188.120, 254.056 and 254.115 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, and repealed chapters 254.025 and 254.365.[2]

Former Oregon Secretaries of State Phil Keisling and Norma Paulus were the chief petitioners in favor of the measure.[3]

Proponents of Measure 65 argued that the closed primary unfairly excluded voters with no party affiliation, and that voters should be able to vote for any primary election candidate they wished, regardless of the party affiliation of either the voter or the candidate.[4] Opponents of the measure countered that every voter is free to register as a member of a political party to participate in the primary, and criticized the possibility that a general election race could have two candidates from the same party.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Bradbury, Bill (4 November 2008). "Official Results – November 4, 2008 General Election" (Website). Elections Division. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  2. ↑ Text of measure
  3. ↑ Jaquiss, Nigel (22 September 2008). "Secretary Of State Race: Dancer is Alone in Supporting Open Primary" (Article). Politics. Willamette Week. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  4. ↑ Measure 65: Arguments in Favor
  5. ↑ Measure 65: Arguments in Opposition


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