MEDIA CONTACT
Norman Turrill, Chair, People Not Politicians, (503) 386-7996
Kathay Feng, Common Cause, (310) 880-6668

People Not Politicians Take Response
to the U.S. Supreme Court

Oppose Unnecessary Stay Motion to
Keep Redistricting Reform off the 2020 Ballot

WASHINGTON, DC—People Not Politicians today continued its fight to reform redistricting in Oregon by filing its opposition to the Oregon Attorney General’s application for a stay before the U.S. Supreme Court in People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno.

Initiative Petition 57, filed in November 2019, would create the Oregon Citizens Redistricting Commission and put redistricting in the hands of voters, not our politicians.

The initiative campaign coalition is being led by the League of Women Voters of Oregon, Common Cause Oregon, Oregon Farm Bureau, the Independent Party of Oregon, NAACP Eugene/Springfield Branch, OSPIRG, Oregon’s Progressive Party, the Taxpayer Association of Oregon, and tens of thousands of Oregonians who support the effort to remove conflicts of interest from drawing voting lines.

On July 30, People Not Politicians received notice that the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office had completed their review and determined that the campaign had submitted enough valid signatures required to meet the threshold set by Federal District Court Judge McShane in his July 10 order. While IP 57 has not yet officially been placed on the November ballot, People Not Politicians is forging ahead with a robust public education and advocacy campaign.

People Not Politicians advocated to the Supreme Court that the Attorney General’s application for the stay is unnecessary. Because no further work must be done by the Oregon Secretary of State and the Ninth Circuit scheduled an expedited hearing on the merits of the case on August 13, there is no need for the United States Supreme Court to weigh in at this stage.

“Despite an unprecedented global pandemic, we used an innovative program to mail, text, phone, and email voters where they live – and Oregonians responded,” said Eric Richardson, Executive Director of the Eugene/Springfield NAACP. “With tens of thousands of Oregonians mailing petitions back, and an unprecedented 97% validation rate, Oregonians are telling us loud and clear, it’s time to put redistricting in the hands of the people, not politicians.”

People Not Politicians also argued that the Oregon Attorney General has no standing to move forward with the litigation because the Oregon Secretary of State is not interested in pursuing this appeal. Oregon law is very clear that the only entity capable of appealing the District Court’s order is the Oregon Secretary of State.

“It’s clear the Oregon Attorney General is pursuing a political agenda rather than representing the interests of Oregonians. We are fighting to give every Oregonian, regardless of party affiliation, a say on redistricting reform this November,” said Norman Turrill, Chair of People Not Politicians.

Adam Lauridsen, David J. Rosen, Jay Rapaport, and Tara M. Rangchi of Keker, Van Nest and Peters lead the legal team in the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court. Common Cause attorneys Dan Vicuna, Suzanne Almeida, Kathay Feng, law clerks Alton Wang and Michael Guggenheim, and separately Steve Elzinga of Sherman, Sherman, Johnnie and Hoyt contributed.

Learn more about IP 57 at www.PeopleNotPoliticiansOregon.com.

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To read today’s order, click here.
To read the District Court’ preliminary order ruling, click here.

Click here for PDF version.

The post People Not Politicians Take Response to the U.S. Supreme Court appeared first on People Not Politicians.

MEDIA CONTACT
Norman Turrill, Chair, People Not Politicians, (503) 386-7996

People Not Politicians applaud Secretary of State Bev Clarno’s decision to allow Oregonians extended time to sign petitions to end gerrymandering

SALEM —  The People Not Politicians campaign provided the following statement on the Secretary of State’s decision released this evening:

“We are grateful the Secretary of State recognized the importance of the democratic process and the significant impacts of the pandemic on Oregonians’ ability to participate in this process,” said Norman Turrill, chair of People Not Politicians and Chief Petitioner of IP 57. “While we are confident in the validity of the signatures we submitted, we know there are tens of thousands of Oregon voters eager for their signature to count. We will continue to collect signatures to ensure Oregon voters have a chance to bring the redistricting reform we need to end gerrymandering in Oregon once and for all.”

Secretary Clarno released her decision in response to a preliminary order issued by Judge Michael J. McShane on July 10 to grant People Not Politicians, a broad and diverse coalition that has come together to create an independent citizens commission for Oregon, relief to qualify its redistricting reform initiative for the November 2020 election.

The judge’s order allowed the Secretary of State to decide by 5:00pm Monday, July 13, 2020 to either accept People Not Politician’s signatures as submitted, or accept a reduced number of signatures to 58,789 and allow additional time to gather until August 17, 2020. The campaign submitted over 64,000 signatures on July 2.

Initiative Petition 57, filed in November 2019, would create the Oregon Citizens Redistricting Commission and put redistricting in the hands of voters, not our politicians. The commission would consist of 12 Oregonians who applied and were selected from qualified applicants – four from the first largest political party, four from the second largest political party, and four others who are third party members or non-affiliated. Major donors to political candidates or parties would not be eligible. Neither would elected-officials, political party officials or their family members. Commissioners would be selected to represent the broad diversity of Oregonians.

The initiative campaign coalition has been led by the League of Women Voters of Oregon, Common Cause Oregon, Oregon Farm Bureau, the Independent Party of Oregon, NAACP Eugene/Springfield Branch, OSPIRG, Oregon’s Progressive Party, and tens of thousands of Oregonians who support the effort to remove conflicts of interest from drawing of voter lines.

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Click here for PDF version.

The post People Not Politicians applaud Secretary of State Bev Clarno’s decision to allow Oregonians extended time to sign petitions to end gerrymandering appeared first on People Not Politicians.