OPINION: Democracy Day — Oregon has often led the way

Oregon has a good track record — one of the strongest among the 50 states — on democracy.

The state makes it relatively easy for Oregonians to participate in elections compared with many other states. But threats to democracy lurk elsewhere — outside the state — and that means Oregon has a special role to play in setting an example.

The 2007 United Nations General Assembly resolution setting up the International Day of Democracy called democracy “a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems, and their full participation in all aspects of life.”

Furthering democracy should not only be the work of elected officials but also the public needs to be involved, something that’s good to remember as States Newsroom and other media organizations across the country mark Democracy Day on Sunday, Sept. 15.

Oregon has been all over democracy for more than a century.

The sweeping electoral reforms that have been adopted nationally happened early in Oregon, and primarily thanks to a popular movement.

One of its leaders was William U’Ren, a Wisconsin native, came to Oregon looking for work and found it laboring in orchards. He was afire with the idea of politically empowering people like himself. By 1892, he was an activist organization leader, the spark plug behind the state’s Populist Party and the tip of the spear behind Oregon’s initiative, referendum and recall provisions, which are pure popular democracy. And he succeeded because large numbers of Oregonians joined the effort.

Ever since, Oregon has been among the most active states with ballot initiatives backed by signatures – though the Legislature refers measures to the ballot, too — and it has above average participation in elections generally. The state has been aggressive in making voting easy, through the Motor Voter law and adopting mail balloss along with other efforts that other states often have replicated.

Not all states have these tools: Oregon is among 24 that allow initiatives on the ballot.

Oregon and California were the first to adopt automatic voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles. In 2016, Oregon expanded the “Motor Voter” law to make voter registration automatic unless the person opts out of registration. That eliminates the need to fill out a voter registration card. Today, Oregon is one of 24 states with some form of automatic voter registration.

All this may matter more in Oregon as a factor in politics than in some states in part because the election margins often are close. Landslide wins are less common in Oregon than in many states, and really close elections are not unusual. Two and maybe three of Oregon’s congressional races this year are expected to be close, which would reflect what happened two years ago.

How many people participate in democracy by voting and in other ways affects the results, and not everyone is in favor of strong voting. Some other states, like Ohio, Arizona and Idaho have faced efforts against widening voter access and allowing public initiatives, reserving that power for legislatures.

Such efforts easily could arise in Oregon.

There are also political arguments, such as Utah’s U.S. Sen. Mike Lee’s well-known 2020 tweet, “We’re not a democracy,” arguing that the U.S. is a republic, with the implicit assumption that self-government is not a positive idea. The Heritage Foundation, which is operating as a central planning arm for a prospective second Trump administration, has argued likewise.

The common rebuttal to statements like Lee’s is that the U.S. is both a democracy and a republic – the latter being the mechanism through which the former works. But this has not sunk in in all quarters.

Anti-democratic ideas like those from Lee and the Heritage Foundation may find less interest in Oregon than in some places. But that doesn’t mean democracy isn’t under threat nationally and internationally.

That means Oregon has a chance to make its longstanding perspective felt in what is increasingly becoming a political debate.

When the United Nations set up the International Day of Democracy, it was intended partly to celebrate self-government but also to “review the state of democracy in the world.”

Americans generally, and Oregonians specifically, need to weigh in on the state of democracy. Oregon’s long history with democratic activism gives it special cachet in pushing for an easier process for the public.