 * HOME (NEWS UPDATES) * WHAT IS IRV? * BENEFITS OF IRV * IRV VOTE COUNTING SYSTEMS * HISTORY OF IRV * REPLIES TO ARGUMENTS * MORE INFORMATION * LOCAL CONTACTS: --IRV-Ashland --IRV-Lane County --IRV-Portland | IRV Oregon Citizens working to bring Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) to Oregon elections. NEWS UPDATE AND ACTION ALERT: May 15, 2009. Please contact the office of Senator Richard Devlin, Chair of the Oregon Senate Rules Committee, and ask for a work session on SB29, the Instant Runoff Voting Local Option bill, to be scheduled as soon as possible. Sen. Richard Devlin: 503-986-1719, sen.richarddevlin@state.or.us The Oregon Senate Rules Committee held hearings on SB29, the "IRV Local Option" bill, on Jan. 22, 2009, but has not yet scheduled a work session to move the bill forward. SB29 would revise state elections law to accomodate and set uniform rules for the use of IRV by local governments which choose to adopt it for election to their offices. Click here for a text copy of SB29. In April proponents of SB29 met with members of the county clerks' legislative committee to discuss amendments to the bill which the clerks had drafted to meet their concerns about which jurisdiction would bear the cost of an IRV election. IRVOregon has slightly revised these amendments and on May 15 Senator Pete Buckley submitted the amendments to Legislative Counsel for review. The amendments will then be sent to the Rules Committee, at which point a work session on the bill would be appropriate. Calls and letters from individuals and groups to the other Rules Committee members are also needed: Sen. Ted Ferrioli, Vice-Chari: 503-986-1730, sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us Sen. Ginny Burdick: 503-986-1718, sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.us Sen. Rick Metsger: 503-986-1726, sen.rickmetsger@state.or.us Sen. Jason Atkinson: 503-986-1702, sen.jasonaltkinson@state.or.us PREVIOUS NEWS: May 5, 2009. The Ashland City Council voted unanimously to support SB29. March 2, 2009. The Oregon League of Women Voters took a position in support of passing a state law to facilitate the adoption of IRV by local governments. Feb. 17, 2009. A public opinion poll found that 46% of voters in the Oregon counties of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington favor the use of IRV, with 21% having no opinion. Jan. 13, 2009. In Minneapolis MN, a county district judge dismissed a lawsuit that would have blocked IRV from being implemented there, ruling that "there is insufficient evidence to conclude that IRV causes any citizen to be deprived of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws." |