2008 Oregon Ballot Measure 64

The measure was initially filed as a potential initiative by chief petitioner Bill Sizemore in 2006. In December 2007, Sizemore turned in 139,000 signatures to qualify the measure for the November 2008 ballot.

Sizemore put similar measures on the Oregon ballot in 1998 and 2000; all of them were defeated by a coalition of unions, charities, and non-profit organizations. Measure 59 was defeated 51–49; two years later, Measure 92 was defeated by a wider margin: 55–45. Also in 2000, another similar measure, Measure 98, was defeated 53–47.

Sizemore has filed nearly identical initiatives every two years since, although none qualified for the ballot until 2008. For 2010, he's filed Initiative Petition 25, which would make political contributions from unions "bribery."

Here is how Oregon's major newspapers endorsed on Measure 64:

No Oregon newspapers endorsed a yes vote on Measure 64.

The official name of the initiative petition committee to put Measure 64 on the ballot was "Ban Public Money for Politics".[3]

The Oregonian reported in September 2007 that Nevada-based millionaire Loren Parks was the leading contributor to put Measure 64 on the ballot.[4] According to the newspaper, Parks gave money directly to the signature gathering firm, rather than to Sizemore directly.

Measure 64 was opposed by the Don't Silence Our Voice committee. It was also opposed by the Defend Oregon Coalition, which opposed all of Bill Sizemore's 2008 ballot initiatives.

Don't Silence Our Voice describes itself as "a broad coalition of community advocates, charities, and labor organizations committed to protecting the voices of all Oregonians."

The official Oregon voter's pamphlet had arguments in opposition from the United Way, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Oregon PTA, the Oregon Education Association, the League of Women Voters, and the Oregon State Council of Fire Fighters, among others.

On May 13, 2008, the Oregon Secretary of State announced that according to an unofficial verification conducted by their office, supporters of the measure had turned in 87,348 valid signatures, slightly more than the 82,769 required. This represented a validity rate of 66% of the 132,347 signatures turned in. Democracy Direct was hired to collect signatures for the measure,[12][13]

A union-funded watchdog group asked the Oregon Secretary of State to conduct an investigation into how some of the signatures on the measure were collected. Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said, "…most all of the initiatives Oregon voters will decide this fall got there through practices that are now illegal. But those practices were legal at the time most of the signatures were submitted." A lawsuit has been filed in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the new laws governing the initiative process in Oregon.[14][15][16]