On Thursday, August 11, the Multnomah County Democrats attending the Central Committee Meeting voted on statewide measures which will be on the November 8 ballot. Endorsement requires a 2/3 vote of the PCPs. They voted to endorse these two measures:

• Oregon Measure 111, the Right to Healthcare Amendment.

It is a legislatively referred (1) constitutional measure amending the state constitution to require that the state “ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.”

• Oregon Measure 112, the Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment.

It is a legislatively referred constitutional amendment repealing language from the state constitution that allows the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments and adding language that authorizes an Oregon court or a probation or parole agency to order alternatives to incarceration for a convicted individual as part of their sentencing. 

More ballot measure endorsement votes are expected at the September Central Committee meeting. Measures are anticipated from at least Metro, Multnomah County and City of Portland.

Precinct Committee Persons and the officers of Multnomah County Democrats meet monthly on the second Thursday of each month. Currently, these meetings are held virtually via Zoom. To sign up for the September Central Committee meeting, visit https://multdems.org/get-involved/central-committee-meeting/. The archive of past meetings is available at: https://multdems.org/about-us/archives/.

Notes:

1.  A legislatively referred constitutional amendment is a proposed constitutional amendment that has been passed by a state’s legislature and appears on the statewide ballot for voter ratification.
2. An initiated constitutional amendment is an amendment to a state’s constitution that comes about through the initiative process. The initiative Process is a means by which citizens may propose to create, amend, or repeal a state law or constitutional provision through collecting petition signatures from a certain minimum number of registered voters.
3.  An initiated state statute is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends state statute (state law).

Damien Grace is the pen name of an active Portland-based PCP and member of the MultDems Communications Committee.