Elections

Oregon Elections Information
Local News
Resources for Voters
Ballot Measures
Miscellaneous Elections Resources
Election History

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Oregon Elections Information

Do you need information for the current or upcoming elections? Are you looking for your elected officials, campaign headquarters, or county elections divisions? Are you interested in historical information from past elections? The following resources help you find information at the state, city and county levels in Oregon.

League of Women Voters of Oregon: http://www.lwvor.org/

The Oregon chapter of the League of Women Voters publishes non-partisan voters' guides for each election. The League never takes stands on candidates or parties, but they do takestands on issues supported by member agreement and in-depth research. The League also reports on many electoral and political issues of interest to Oregonians.
Multnomah County Elections Division: http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/elect/

Locate your elected officials and find information about current and upcoming elections including the Multnomah County Voters' Pamphlet for the May 15, 2012 election. The voter resources page incudes voter registration forms, frequently asked questions, ballot drop site locations, and much more. Find historical election results and links to other Oregon election agencies too.
Oregon Elections Division: http://www.oregonvotes.org/

Find voter resources including the Voters Guide for the May 15, 2012 election , also available in Spanish, or in an English audio version ). Or, check to see if you're already registered to vote. Track the status of initiatives, find detailed information about candidates and committees, learn about the history of Oregon elections and locate county election offices around the state
Oregon Follow the Money: http://www.followthemoney.org/database/state_overview.phtml?s=OR&y=2012

Find out who gave money to various political candidates and ballot measure campaigns in Oregon, and see how much money each donor contributed.
Oregonian: Voter Guide: http://thevoterguide.oregonlive.com/

Are you wondering how the candidates in a city, county, or statewide race compare? OregonLive asked candidates from around the state to provide information about themselves and their positions on the issues, and you can compare their answers here.
Portland Elections Division: http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=26642

Find current and historical city election results back to 1905, a list of elected officials from 1913 to the present, and mayors from 1851 to the present. Find out how to become a city candidate, how to file an initiative or referendum petition, or test your knowledge of Portland elections on the trivia page!
Washington Elections Division: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/

Find information about elections, voting, caucuses, candidates and political parties in the state of Washington.

Local News

If you want news and opinions about local races, state ballot measures, and the local perspective on national election stories, these sites should help get you started.

OPB News: Election 2012: http://www.npr.org/sections/elections/

Read news and views on local, state and national elections, from the public radio network serving northern Oregon and southwest Washington.
Oregonian: Politics & Elections | rss/xml feed: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/

Find information about the national elections from a local perspective, with an election news blog, articles about the election and the candidates from the Oregonian, profiles of the candidates, and links to political parties, local resources for voters, and other elections and politics related resources.
Willamette Week: http://www.wweek.com/portland/flex-266-pdx_votes_home.html#home

Read local and national political news, and election endorsements from the editorial staff at Willamette Week.

Resources for Voters

Whether you're a first-time voter or an old hand, these sites can help you with the practical side of voting.

Declare Yourself: http://www.declareyourself.com/

Are you eager to learn about voting, register to vote, and get yourself ready for the election? This nonpartisan site is designed just for you! Find state by state voting and eligibility requirements, a voting FAQ as well as information about primaries, caucuses, conventions and the electoral process.
Felony Disenfranchisement: http://www.sentencingproject.org/IssueAreaHome.aspx?IssueID=4

Find information about the voting rights of people with previous felony convictions, including which states bar ex-felons from voting altogether, and the steps ex-felons have to take to restore their voting rights in states that do allow them to vote.
New Voters Project: http://www.newvotersproject.org/

This project is dedicated to encouraging newly eligible voters to get involved in the election process and to vote. Locate research on how many young people have turned out for the caucuses and primaries, register to vote, find your polling place, and learn how to become involved.
Vote411: http://www.vote411.org/

If you are looking for basic information about how voting works, who is eligible to vote, what kind of identification is required to vote or to register to vote, and what kind of voting machines the different states use, this nonpartisan site from the League of Women Voters can help.
Voting Rights: http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/index.html

Learn about current controversies related to voting rights from this website sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Association. You'll find information about voters' rights in the states and information about the voting rights of military personnel, prisoners and ex-convicts, and rural residents. If you're looking for local information, you can also check out the Oregon ACLU website.

Ballot Measures

In Oregon and many other states, laws can be made directly by the popular vote of citizens. There are two kinds of ballot measures: referendums which are referred from the state legislature to the voters; and initiatives, which are put on the ballot as a result of signature petitions signed by registered voters. These websites can help you learn about the history and future of ballot measures and other methods of direct democracy.

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center: http://www.ballot.org

This organization advocates for ballot initiative reform from a progressive perspective, and provides information about ballot measure campaigns nationwide. Find information about current measures on the ballot across the nation, read overviews of election results, find out which states allow voter initiatives, and learn about the rules for how to get an intitiative on the ballot in each state.
Ballot Measures Database: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/dbintro.htm

Find information about statewide ballot measures from across the U.S., back to Oregon's first referendum authorizing the initiative process in 1902. This database, from the National Conference of State Legislatures, is part of a larger site rich with information about initiatives, referendums, and recall elections, as well as other information about state elections in the U.S.
Direct Democracy: Initiatives and Referendums: http://www.osbar.org/public/vote/InitiativeProcess.htm

Find answers to your questions about how ballot measures work, and their history in Oregon.
Initiative & Referendum Institute: http://www.iandrinstitute.org/

Are you curious about ballot measures across the US? Find reports about ballot measure results and trends, quick facts about initiatives and referendums, and information about how ballot measures work in the different states.

Miscellaneous Elections Resources

Are you curious about the history of presidential elections in the United States? Do you need to know how the electoral college works, what qualifications a person needs to be eligible to run for president, or how the candidates are paying for their campaigns? Turn to these sites for answers!

Campaign 2012 | blog | rss/xml feeds: http://www.cfr.org/projects/world/campaign-2012/pr1576

Find opinions and information about how the presidential election impacts world politics. You can read interviews with foreign policy experts from other countries, background reports on campaign issues, debates and speeches, and more.
Campaign Finance Institute: http://www.cfinst.org/

This think tank website offers nonpartisan discussion of many issues related to campaign finance in congressional and presidential election campaigns. You'll find reports on developments in federal campaign finance law, political parties and interest groups and "soft money" and how they affect the funding of political campaigns, and information about current issues in the news.
CQ Roll Call Politics: http://www.cqpolitics.com/

Find political news, information on current campaigns, analysis, data about campaign funding. Use the state map find information about house, senate, and gubernatorial elections around the country.
Election '12 | rss/xml feed: http://pewresearch.org/topics/election'12/

Are you curious about what Americans think about election issues? The Pew Research Centers survey people across the U.S. about their attitudes, habits, and opinions — read their reports on elections and the media, religion in politics, the interenet's role in politics, and more!
FactCheck.org: http://www.factcheck.org/

Sometimes when campaign ads make a claim, or when a politician says something important in a speech, it is difficult to find out the background on the issue. This site brings together information that can help you check the factual claims that candidates, political campaigns, and elected officials make.
Fairvote.org: http://www.fairvote.org/

Find the latest news about election reform and the move to increase voter participation, and read reports on a wide array of election issues, from the Center for Voting and Democracy.
Politifact.com: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

PolitiFact vets statements made by the campaigns in ads, speeches and debates, and provides articles and facts supporting or refuting the statements. Use the truth-o-meter to view the latest statements reviewed.

Election History

Democracy in the United States has a fascinating and complex history! Use these sites to find election results from the past, learn how the electoral process has evolved and learn more about significant election issues through time.

Crafting the Oregon Constitutional: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/1857/index.htm

Have you ever wondered how Oregon developed its system for revising the state Constitution? This article explains how William U'Ren sparked a movement that eventually resulted in the "Oregon System" — today's referendum and initiative process.
The History of Televised Presidential Debates: http://www.museum.tv/debateweb/html/index.htm

This exhibit from Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications explores televised presidential debates from 1960 to 2000 with videos, photographs, and other documentary evidence of the debates, their public reception, and their impact on the voters. A special section provides curriculum resources for teachers. The museum also has other resources about televised presidential debate history.
The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2008: http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us

Political campaign advertisements are an important way for candidates to deliver their messages to voters—at this exhibit you can watch dozens of television and web campaign ads from the recent past.
New York Times Endorsements Through the Ages: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/23/opinion/20081024-endorse.html

Have you ever wondered what effect endorsements have on election outcomes? The New York Times shares an archive of their endorsements of presidential candidates from 1860 to the present. Each endorsement is accompanied by a photograph of the candidate, the Times's editorial endorsing the candidate, and a note about who won the election that year.
Polling Place Photo Project: http://www.pollingplacephotoproject.org/

Are you curious what democracy looks like around the country? View photographs of polling places used in elections across the U.S. (including Oregon!), and by Americans voting abroad.
Presidential Nominating Conventions and Television: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/presidential/presidential.htm

This brief article from the Museum of Broadcast Communications's Encyclopedia of Television discusses the history of televised political conventions starting in 1948, the first year a convention was partially televised.
Vote: The Machinery of Democracy: http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/

Explore the history of voting machines in the United States at this exhibit from the Smithsonian. Find out how ballots and voting systems have evolved over the years as a response to political, social and technological change. Examine samples of voting technology from paper ballots to punch cards, and voting systems of today and the future.
Voting System: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_system

How do different voting systems work? This article from Wikipedia explains decision-making processes that don't usually get considered when discussing elections in the U.S., explains technical terms, discusses the history of different decision-making methods, and provides a bibliography of sources for more information.

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