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FROM PAGE ONE THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 THE OBSERVER — A7 PRIMARIES “It may be top two,” he said. “It may be top four. It may be something com- pletely diff erent. Our ini- tiative isn’t defi ning the solution. It’s opening the door to guarantee the rights for all voters and all candidates.” Doyle said he antic- ipates opposition from Democrats and Republi- cans, who have opposed similar eff orts over the past two decades. Oregon voters defeated ballot mea- sures in both 2008 and 2014 that would have cre- ated a top-two primary system akin to California and Washington. State Sen. Dallas Heard, a Roseburg Republican who until recently chaired the state GOP, proposed opening the Republican primary to nonaffi liated voters. Other party leaders rejected the idea. Carla “K.C.” Hanson, chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, said party leaders will decide whether to support or oppose the initiative if it moves for- ward, but they’ve histor- ically opposed the idea of opening primaries to all voters. “In the past, the Demo- cratic Party has not viewed it as a viable option and neither have the people of Oregon,” she said. “Oregon voters have con- sistently voted it down every time it comes up, and they’re right.” The rise in nonaffi liated voters, though, means both parties need to reach voters in the general election who haven’t chosen either party. age and homeownership. Older respondents tended to be less likely than younger respondents to support pro- grams that included terms like “cultural awareness.” Across the board, renters were more likely to sup- port a given family service than homeowners. WHAT THE INITIATIVE SAYS Continued from Page A1 It’s a diffi cult task for a group that now has about $6,500 in a campaign bank account and will need to pay petition circulators. “It’s really an uphill battle for us to actually get the signatures in order to get on the ballot,” Doyle said. “It will really depend on funding as we go forward.” The proposed initia- tive is simple — just a two-sentence addition to a section of the Constitu- tion. It would require that all voters be able to vote in a state-funded primary for any candidate for Con- gress, U.S. Senate, the Oregon Legislature and statewide elected offi ces like governor, regardless of political party. It wouldn’t apply to presidential primaries or to partisan primaries for local races like county commission. It also doesn’t prescribe how the state would hold open primary elections, just that all voters must be able to vote for all candi- dates. That could take the form of the top-two pri- SURVEY Continued from Page A1 to consider in education, he worries schools are being asked to teach too many things. “Are we asking the school systems to do too much, where it’s under- serving the primary good?” Warman said. “We’re not treating teachers like pro- fessionals and letting them focus on what they’re sup- posed to be doing.” Warman said while he disagrees with many of the more extreme , MBA argu- ments, he shares some of the core concerns about overreaching school cur- riculum as those expressed by those on the right in recent debates over school curriculum. “There’s a conserva- tive attack on education Amend Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the State of Oregon to read: Section 1. Elections Free. All elections shall be free and equal. (1) In all publicly funded elec- tions for state and federal offi ce, the state shall only select candidates for the general elec- tion by conducting an open primary election in which all qualifi ed candidates and elec- tors may participate regardless of political party affi liation or non-affi liation. (2) As used in this section, “offi ce” means all state and fed- eral legislative offi ces and all statewide elected offi ces. Ron Cooper/Oregon Capital Chronicle, File Candidates and their families watch names scroll across three large screens in the Oregon House chamber on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, the fi ling deadline for the governor’s race. maries held in Washington and California, or it could resemble a new Alaska election system that will be used for the fi rst time in a special congressional elec- tion this summer. Alaska voters in 2020 established an open pri- mary that sends the top four vote-getters to a gen- eral election. Voters then rank their fi rst through fourth choices in the gen- eral election, and if no can- didate is the fi rst choice of more than 50% of voters, vote tabulators look at the second choices from voters who picked the candidate who came in last place. In some other Western states, nonaffi liated voters can participate in primaries — but they have to choose a party’s ballot. In Colo- rado, nonaffi liated voters receive both Democratic and Republican ballots in the mail and choose one to fi ll out. In Arizona, nonaffi liated voters who opted to receive ballots by mail have to “Are we asking the school systems to do too much, where it’s underserving the primary good. We’re not treating teachers like professionals and letting them focus on what they’re supposed to be doing.” — Noah Scott Warman, 52, a labor attorney from Portland and a survey respondent that I don’t want to echo. I think there’s some inter- esting observations we need to think about,” Warman said. “I think the common thread, to start with, there is a view of what is the pri- mary goal — it’s not at odds with other goals. What is the primary purpose of getting this education?” The survey revealed other spaces for common ground: Reducing barriers to behavioral health ser- vices, culturally respon- sive suicide prevention pro- grams for communities at risk, increasing access to extracurricular and tutoring programs all saw upwards of 70% support from both Democrats and Republicans. Survey taker Susan O’Neill, 68, a Republican from Medford who’s retired and describes herself as “slightly conservative,” told The Bulletin she sup- ports using tax dollars for expanding access to behav- ioral health programs in schools. “The whole idea, for me, of school is to help a Lose Weight Now, in La Grande Doddsy from EOAlive lost 40 pounds so far contact their county clerk ahead of time to request a Republican or Democratic ballot. Otherwise, they can go to a polling place in person and ask for a par- tisan ballot. Doyle said a system like that in Colorado or Arizona isn’t the goal, but that the initiative is purposefully vague on what Oregon’s election system should look like. It would force the Legislature to pass laws that would comply with the amended Constitution. small child grow up to be — if not happy — a con- tented and fully functioning human,” O’Neill said. “And to do that, you need to not only teach Johnny to read and write. If he’s got a mental illness, you also have to teach him to deal with that.” Access to those kinds of services for students could reduce the stigma around mental illness and expand access to mental health pro- viders for people of all ages, O’Neill, who has bipolar disorder, told The Bulletin. “It can cause the older relatives to question their own beliefs,” O’Neill said. Survey researchers found two other key predic- tors of a person’s support for particular programs: BY THE NUMBERS As of March 18, Oregon had • 1,022,556 nonaffi liated voters • 1,019,668 Democrats • 723,728 Republicans Then NOW 2022 Graduates y l n O 49 $ Includes full color. Three line maximum message. T HE O BSERVER , MBA Scan the code to watch Doddsy on video tell his story James R. Kopp, MD, MBA Weight Loss Physician "If you struggle to lose weight and keep it off, come see me. Our program helps men, women, and adolescents lose 10 to 150+ pounds safely, rapidly, and healthfully. 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