Editor’s note, 2/24/20: Last summer, we wrote about a handful of Oregon Republicans leaving the statehouse—and the state—to thwart progress on climate change legislation. On Monday, they did it again. As one observer tweeted, “11 people representing just 36 percent of Oregonians are holding the legislature hostage.” We barely had time to file this one … Read more
Author’s note: This is a longer version of an Oregonian op-ed from July 21. American voters, thinkers, media outlets, our policy partners, and we at Sightline have been saying for years that broken institutions of democracy block progress on all the things we care about. In June, the Oregon senate showed just how true that … Read more
We’re trying something a little different. The two memos linked below are not thoroughly vetted and reviewed reports or articles like most of our publications. Instead, we are sharing Sightline’s internal strategy for voting systems reform. These are based on research, of course, but they mostly reflect Sightline’s current judgment, which we may revise with … Read more
This election, voters in nine states and one province saw a total of 17 democracy reform initiatives on their ballots. The initiatives gave voters a chance to weigh in on issues ranging from voter registration to vote-counting systems, from the role of big money in funding political campaigns to the adoption of game-changing campaign finance … Read more
Election results are in for Whatcom County, Washington, where a proposal for a giant coal export terminal puts communities on the front lines of the fight against dirty energy. Thanks to a flood of money from coal interests, voters approved a coal-backed proposition to change the county voting system to district-only voting. This plan likely … Read more
Wednesday will dawn a little brighter in the Northwest, thanks to a new democracy reform measure that Emerald City voters passed tonight with more than 60 percent of the first round of ballots counted. Honest Elections Seattle, I-122, will empower everyday citizens and limit the power of big money interests in city elections. I’ve written about … Read more
Last year, Oregon continued its leadership in voting rights by passing the New Motor Voter law and starting to automatically register eligible voters. California and New Jersey have since followed Oregon’s lead, and 17 other states have introduced similar bills. KUOW’s Posey Gruener and Ross Reynolds talked with me about voting rights and voter registration. Listen in here.
Voters in Whatcom County, Washington, are about to bubble in their views on an obscure ballot measure that would tweak the structure of elections, changing from county-wide elections to district-only. It’s the sort of governance minutiae that’s typically overlooked by political observers and citizens alike, but in this case, the stakes are high. As we … Read more
The opponents of Honest Elections Seattle, I-122, have repeated, in the King County voters’ pamphlet, the same facepalm-inducing falsehoods that I’ve already corrected. They also introduce a new claim—a gobsmackingly offensive and nonsensical one. I-122, it says: “- Bars many minority-owned small businesses from participating in the political process.” Yet I-122 says not one single … Read more
Honest Elections Seattle, I-122, would lower the city’s campaign contribution limits to $500 per donor for all candidates, down from the current limit of $700. For non-mayoral candidates choosing to participate in the Democracy Voucher program, I-122 would lower the contribution limit further, to $250. Opponents argue that Seattle’s campaign contribution limits are low enough … Read more
