KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TUESDAY, APRIl 12, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Should
voting be
mandatory?
M
ost Americans who were eligible
to vote voted in the 2020 presi-
dential election. Some 67%.
That’s pretty good. But in election after
election many people don’t vote. Voters
tend to skew white, wealthier, older and to
people with more education. If a democ-
racy, a republic, is supposed to be ruled
by its people, it’s often not the case. Some
voices are left out. They don’t choose who
rules them or what ballot measures pass.
It is not hard to vote in Oregon. Vote by
mail is convenient. Republican and Demo-
cratic election officials have declared it a
good system. And registration can now
happen when people get their driver’s
licenses.
What if it was not only not hard to vote,
but mandatory to vote? It was the law
that people must be registered to vote and
participate.
It’s not a new idea. It’s the law in Austra-
lia and in some other countries. But it is an
argument revived and expanded upon in a
new book, “100% Democracy: The Case
for Universal Voting.” It’s by E.J. Dionne
Jr., a Washington Post columnist, and Miles
Rapoport, a senior fellow at the Harvard
Kennedy School and former Connecticut
secretary of state. It’s fair to call both of
them liberals. So is this just a strategy to
get more liberal people voting? It would
seem to do that. Is their argument going
to have broad appeal? It doesn’t now. How
would it work? That requires more expla-
nation.
They say it would be better if the coun-
try didn’t continue to fight over who had
the right to vote. It should be a fundamen-
tal right and not abridged. It should be a
fundamental civic duty.
They say it is a problem for government
when the people who vote are not fully
representative of the population. It raises
questions about the legitimacy of elections.
Of course, they don’t argue that universal
voting will fix everything in the political
culture. They think it’s one lever to pull to
help improve the political culture.
They say with universal voting, candi-
dates would have less reason to appeal to
their base. Candidates would have to appeal
to everyone. They believe the idea would be
found constitutional. They believe it could
be implemented at the federal, state and
local level.
They propose a small, civil fine of not
more than $20 for people who don’t vote.
The authors of the book say few Americans
right now would support the policy today.
Maybe 25%, according to a poll.
The book is very much a response to
what they call Republican efforts to roll-
back access to voting. And if you remem-
ber in 2015, when President Barack Obama
proposed universal voting, critics jumped
all over it. One of the best lines was a recy-
cled one from William F. Buckley Jr.: liber-
als don’t care what you do so long as it’s
compulsory. Critics say it will strike most
Americans as unAmerican or authoritar-
ian to make voting mandatory. The authors’
response is to compare it to the civic duty
in jury duty and to say they should allow
people to conscientiously object or to
return blank ballots.
Another critique is that forcing people
to vote may mean the country would have
more uninformed voters voting. Their
response: That is a critique of any democ-
racy, not just universal voting. And the
authors hope if participating in voting was
required, more people would spend more
time educating themselves about the candi-
dates and the issues.
We are not sure we have done the argu-
ments in the book justice. You should
read it yourself, if you are interested. But
whether you lean in support or against,
people are going to keep pushing for the
policy. Best to understand the arguments.
What are the basics of spousal support?
BLAINE
CLOOTEN
ASK A LAWYER
Q. I am thinking about getting a
divorce. I am a stay-at-home mom
with two kids in elementary school.
We’ve been married about five years.
We are currently separated. My
husband makes about $65,000 a year.
I have no income. Am I able to get
alimony?
A. This is a great and important ques-
tion to understand. First things first, let’s
clarify some terminology. In Oregon,
alimony is called spousal support.
What are some of the basics of spou-
sal support?
Whether or not a party will be
awarded spousal support is depen-
dent on several factors. One of the first
factors is whether or not the marriage
was a “long-term” marriage. A long-
term marriage in Oregon is a marriage
that lasts 3-5 years, or more.
However, this is not the only factor.
Some short-term marriages in rare
circumstances can end up with a spousal
support award.
In general, when looking at whether
you will receive spousal support, the
court will consider factors like length
of marriage and the age and health of
the parties. In Oregon, 45 years old is
considered relatively young. The court
also will look at the needs of the parties
and the income of the parties.
One thing that’s important to note,
the court must consider that a single
household’s total income is now being
split into two households. Bear in mind,
the court is not going to award a punitive
type of spousal support that is unrealis-
tic for the other party to pay.
If you are a homemaker spouse, and
you have been for over five years, you are
going to need to have a plan for getting
back into the work force, depending on
your age, and having your own income,
but you’ll likely be asking for spousal
support to help get you back on your feet.
What are the different types of spou-
sal support in Oregon?
There are three different types of
spousal support in Oregon — mainte-
nance, transitional and compensatory.
Zero, one, two, or all three might be
awarded in a case.
Maintenance spousal support is
typical in longer term marriages and/or
where the parties are older. Maintenance
support also is common if the marriage
is very long term and one of the parties
has been serving as a person that takes
care of the children and doesn’t have any
outside income. Oftentimes, they have
been out of the work force for a long
time, and they will need time to get back
into the work force, or they have been
out of the work force for so long that it is
not realistic that they will go back into
the work force.
Transitional support is the type of
support that would be more typical in
your case. This is because you don’t have
a very long-term marriage but may need
help with housing and expenses to get
you back on your feet, along with any
training needed to get back into the work
force.
Compensatory support is a rare type
of support. An example would be where
one spouse has paid living expenses
while the other has gone to medical
school. Then, after getting their degree,
the educated spouse decides to get a
divorce. The spouse who has supported
the other party through school may be
awarded compensatory support by the
court.
How is spousal support calculated?
In Oregon, there are no spousal
support formulas to provide an antici-
pated amount you might receive.
If you are the one requesting support,
you will provide a uniform support
declaration to the court. You will list
your monthly income and expenses.
Expenses include all things from rent to
money given to charity. The other party
also will submit a declaration, and ulti-
mately the court will have an idea of the
financial picture of the parties. The court
then will be better able to identify the
needs of the parties.
The court also may consider the
reasonableness of the expenses listed
in each party’s declaration and deter-
mine what is necessary. The court then
will determine realistic expenses and
what the other party can realistically
pay every month. Once again, lifestyles
are likely going to change. Income is
reduced, and households are split.
In any case, the person paying the
spousal support must have the ability to
pay it and won’t be left living in poverty
relative to your other spouse, after
paying their monthly spousal support
obligation.
As you can see, even based on this
limited question and response, spousal
support is a complicated topic that varies
significantly based on your individ-
ual facts. I would encourage you, and
anyone considering spousal support to
talk to an attorney if they have ques-
tions about the law, or about whether the
court will award spousal support in their
particular case.
———
Blaine Clooten is an attorney serving
Umatilla County with a focus on family
law, estate planning and personal injury
cases. Questions answered do not create
an attorney-client relationship. Facts
and law may vary; talk to an attorney
for more information.
and someone who will stand up and
fight to get our Oregon back, then Kerry
McQuisten is just the candidate for you.
Patty Trost
Unity
no available screening tools.
The president mentioned multican-
cer early detection tests or MCEDs, new
technology that with one blood test could
screen for dozens of cancers. Research is
ongoing to determine the impact of these
tests, but they could be a game changer.
A single blood test may be less invasive
and more accessible than existing early
detection tests, expanding screening
opportunities to traditionally underserved
communities and helping to reduce
cancer disparities.
Ensuring individuals have access
to them will be critical. That’s why I’m
calling on Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley
and Ron Wyden to support legislation to
create a pathway for Medicare coverage
for these tests once approved by the FDA
and proven to have clinical benefit.
It’s time to stand together to end
cancer as we know it.
Karen Malcolm
Pendleton
YOUR VIEWS
We support Kerry
McQuisten for governor
We are supporting Kerry McQuis-
ten for governor. We have known Kerry
since she was in grade school at Burnt
River/Unity. Kerry is a seventh-gen-
eration Oregonian. She grew up on a
cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon, so she
understands the rural part of Oregon.
She had the opportunity to live and work
overseas before returning stateside to
complete her education at Willamette
University. She has had a chance to
experience both city and rural living.
Kerry is now back in Baker City
where she owns her own publishing
company, is mayor of Baker City and
raising her two daughters.
Kerry has campaigned in all 36 coun-
ties in Oregon to listen to the concerns of
all Oregonians. She cares.
If you want someone who has good
common sense with conservative values,
Time to stand together to
end cancer
In the past two months, several people
I was close to, including my brother, died
from three types of cancer. My son’s
co-worker was just diagnosed with breast
cancer. Each day, someone each of us
cares about is told he or she has cancer.
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden
reignited his cancer moonshot to acceler-
ate his commitment to end cancer. As an
advocate with the American Cancer Soci-
ety Cancer Action Network, I’m thrilled
to hear this. I’m also thrilled to hear the
emphasis on prevention and early detec-
tion. Specifically, finding ways to detect
cancer earlier, especially for cancers with