Minority & Small Business Week
October 7, 2020
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
Make a Plan toVote!
Deadline for
voter registration
Tuesday, Oct. 13
M iChael l eighton
p ortland o bserver e ditor
With less than a month to go
before the Nov. 3 General Elec-
tion, a vote-by-mail ballot that
will have a huge impact on the
future of Portland, Multnomah
County and the nation, potential
voters are urged to make a plan to
cast their vote and get it returned
before the deadline.
Multnomah County Audi-
tor Jennifer McGuirk released a
statement encouraging voters to
make a plan to vote.
“Voting is an important way
to hold our election officials ac-
countable,” McGuirk said. “It is
a privilege our ancestors fought
and died for. It is a privilege
Black, Indigenous, and People
of Color and women worked es-
pecially hard to get. Your vote is
power and it matters. Please don’t
waste that power by not voting.”
Not only will America be
choosing a president in the na-
tional contest, voters in Oregon
will be deciding several local
races for elected office, including
the mayors of Gresham and Port-
land. Important ballot issues are
by
M ETRO
page 7
Arts &
page 11
ENTERTAINMENT
O PINION
C LASSIFIED /B IDS
tion treatment and recovery pro-
gram funded by the states’ mar-
ijuana tax revenue; and increase
the cigarette tax from $1.33 per
pack to $3.33 per pack while im-
posing a tobacco tax on nicotine
inhalant delivery systems like va-
pes used for e-cigarettes.
Everyone has a right to vote if
they are a citizen of the United
States, are at least 18 years old,
and are registered to vote. The
deadline to register in Oregon
for the election is Tuesday, Oct.
13. The ballots will begin to be
mailed out to potential voters the
next day on Oct. 14, officials said.
In order to be counted, all bal-
lots in Oregon must be returned
and received by county elections
officials by the 8 p.m. deadline
C ontinued on p age 6
page 15
pages 18
Criminal justice system reforms will be the topic Thursday, Oct.8 when Rep. Lew Frederick (left) of
Portland and new Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt will discuss criminal justice
system report during a virtual forum on Thursday, Oct. 8.
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also facing voters statewide and
in local jurisdictions, including
tax measure requests to build a
new high school on the Jeffer-
son campus in north Portland,
and funding transportation issues
across the Metro region.
Multnomah County has tax
proposals to expand, renovate
and construct new library branch-
es and establish tuition-free pre-
school. Portland voters are being
asked to fund a new five-year
levy for parks and nature areas
and authorize a new, indepen-
dent community police oversight
board.
Statewide, voters will be asked
to legalize psilocybin mushrooms
in controlled settings under the
Oregon Health Authority; de-
criminalize possession of certain
drugs and establish a drug addic-
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What Next on Criminal Justice Reform?
Lawmaker, new
DA to discuss
approaches
Multnomah County District Attor-
ney, will discuss criminal justice
system reforms during a virtual
forum this week by Willamette
Women Democrats
Frederick plans to talk about
Lawmaker Lew Frederick five police reform and account-
from Portland’s Black commu- ability proposals that may be
nity and Mike Schmidt, the new brought forward in a special leg-
islative session by the end of this
year. The ideas include restrict-
ing use of tear gas, requiring law
enforcement officers to display
identifying information, creating
databases of misconduct and dis-
cipline of public safety employees
C ontinued on p age 6