People, not politicians, should be in charge.

The Oregon legislature has once again demonstrated the need for an independent citizens’ redistricting commission to draw congressional and legislative district lines. The promise of fair representation should not be a pawn in a partisan political game. We need to reform this process to create a fair system so that Oregon voters are choosing their politicians, instead of politicians choosing their voters.

The process for drawing congressional and legislative district boundaries has, for too long, been controlled by politicians. Letting politicians manipulate voting maps is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. Politicians in power shouldn’t be allowed to draw voting maps that benefit themselves and their party. But’s that’s exactly how they do it now.

People Not Politicians is proposing a ballot measure, Initiative Petition 34, to redraw these lines and reform that process and create a fairer, less partisan system. At its simplest, this initiative would put into place a multi-partisan independent citizens’ redistricting commission that would consist of four Democrats, four Republicans and four others who are third party members or non-affiliated voters to redraw district lines in 2024. Third-party and non-affiliated voters are now the largest sector of registered voters in Oregon, about 40% of the electorate.

We believe Oregon voters should choose their politicians—politicians should not choose their voters.

Our diverse coalition has come together from all party affiliations, income levels, backgrounds, identities, and all corners of Oregon to rally for equal, fair and transparent representation at the state and congressional level. We represent hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who believe we deserve the best possible representative government produced through a fair, unbiased and transparent process—and we’re working hard to make that happen.

We hope you will join our efforts today to bring a more fair, transparent and non-partisan approach to Oregon’s redistricting system in November 2022.