Dear friends,
In spite of the launch of an unprecedented seven mass mobilization campaigns in three weeks and the participation of hundreds of Oregonians from all corners of the state, Initiative Petition 54 has not garnered a sufficient number of signatures to qualify for a spot on the November, 2014 ballot.
Our most sincere and heartfelt thanks go out to all the volunteers who've added their voices and sweat to make the equal vote happen. We've received petitions from every corner of the state: from Lakeview to Astoria, from Bandon to Pendleton, and all points in between. Residents of 68 cities in Oregon, including even one brave soul from Moro (population: 317), heard the call and took the citizen initiative process into their own hands. You have our gratitude.
To everyone who has recently joined and to those who petitioned in December's snow: this marks not the end, but rather the end of the beginning. We now enter the second of three phases of the 2014-2015 Unified Primary Campaign. Initiative Petition 55 - the Open Primary - has qualified for the 2014 ballot, and embodies the first of the two reforms that together compose the equal vote. What we initially aimed to solve in a single leap, we'll now aim to solve in two steps: first at the ballot box and second in Salem in the 2015 Legislative session. To understand how these compatible reforms work together, read this.
The ultimate prize is still up for grabs. We all win it if our primary ballots in May 2016 allow us the opportunity to vote equally for the first time in the history of the country. To get there, we'll continue to spread the word this summer about the effort to unify the vote and we'll be launching #UFTV into Extra Time this fall. We'll ask our volunteer coalition that now spans all corners of the political spectrum and all corners of the state to humbly request that our legislators allow us, as voters, to make the simplest of agreements. That we allow everyone to have an equal voice in our political discourse that we may ourselves enjoy that same privilege.
May you all have a safe and happy Independence Day.
Sincerely,
Mark Frohnmayer
Unified Primary Campaign