Resources Archives

Nonpartisan Information for Voters!

Lots of Info to help voters

Look on this website to find balanced nonpartisan information for Oregon’s May 19, 2020 Primary Election. You will find lots of info about the candidates and measures that will be on your ballot.

We have links to the online copies of our print Primary Election Voters’ Guide, both in English and in Spanish. The Voters’ Guide includes candidates’ answers to questions about current issues. In addition, there are balanced explanations of local ballot measures, with pros and cons.

Video Voters’ Guide interviews

We are also excited about our Video Voters’ Guide, which features short interviews with 86 of the candidates who are running for office in Oregon or in various districts within Multnomah County.

Learn about all our resources to help voters, by clicking here.

Be sure to Vote!

Be an informed voter and remember to mail your ballot by Thursday, May 14. (No stamp needed!) Or drop off your ballot at an official drop site by no later than 8 pm on Election Day, Tuesday, May 19.

Vote411 candidate & measure info

NONPARTISAN INFORMATION FOR THE 2020 PRIMARY ELECTION

Look on VOTE411.org for answers to questions from the the candidates running in Oregon and in Multnomah County. The VOTE411.org website also has videos about some candidates. Plus there are links to the League’s Video Voters’ Guide interviews with 66 of the candidates. You can also read about the three ballot measures that will be on Multnomah County voters’ ballots. In addition, there’s information about how to register to vote in Oregon and tips for first time voters. Just go to the menu at the top left of the VOTE411 website, select Oregon, and check it out!

Remember in Oregon we vote by mail, and this year the postage is pre-paid. You don’t even need to buy a stamp.

Make sure you are registered!

If you are a first-time voter, make sure you register to vote by Tuesday, April 28. That’s also the deadline for choosing a political party or changing your party, so you can vote in the Primary for candidates running as Republicans or Democrats. To make sure you are registered, you can check your registration on vote411.org.

Make vote411.org your go-to source for nonpartisan election information.

Protect Elections & Your Data!

View the video of a Panel Discussion of Privacy and Cybersecurity

On March 10, the League of Women Voters of Portland hosted a program on “Privacy and Cybersecurity Today,” based on a new study by the League of Women Voters of Oregon.

Now you can view the video of this program to learn about this urgent and timely topic. How can we protect elections? How can you (and businesses you use) protect your personal data?

Click below to view this video:

SPEAKERS

LWVOR President Becky Gladstone, who was a member of the study committee, will be the featured speaker. She will be joined on the panel by the Director of Multnomah County Elections, Tim Scott, speaking on election security, and Emily Maass, an attorney with expertise on privacy and data protection.

TOPICS

Over the past decade, the public has been alarmed by news of identity theft, cyber attacks on personal accounts, threats to election security, tracking, surveillance, and cyber warfare. The LWV of Oregon study of these issues began in May 2019 and was completed in February. You can read the entire study online by clicking here.

Learn more about these ongoing compelling issues:

- Privacy, cybersecurity, and election security
- Privacy and cybersecurity protections now in effect
- Current legislation: privacy, cybersecurity, and election security and
- “Cyber hygiene,” or privacy and transparency protection

Below is the schedule for rebroadcast on cable channels.

The League of Women Voters of Portland’s Civic Education programs are free and open to the public. MetroEast Community Media records these programs for rebroadcast and online streaming from this website. The Carol & Velma Saling Foundation and the Multnomah Bar Foundation provided funding for the recordings. We design our programs to inform our community about current issues. Please join us for this program and our voter forums in April on the candidates and issues in the Oregon Primary Election.

New Directory of Elected Officials – Your Voice Counts

Want to ask or comment about what’s happening in your community? Concerned about state and national issues? Download your copy of the July 1 edition of the LWVPDX Multnomah County Directory of Elected Officials here.

The Directory of Elected Officials has phone numbers, email addresses and websites for government officials serving the people of Multnomah County. We just updated it by adding the new school board members who took office on July 1.

You can find how to contact President Trump, your U.S. Senators and Representatives, as well as state legislators, county, and city officials. You have a right to speak out on issues that concern you. Let your government know your questions and thoughts.

More Info

You can also find information in this directory about registering to vote. And there’s more contact info on this website under Advocate, Contact Elected Officials and also lots of voting info under Vote.

Make your voice heard and your vote count with information from the League of Women Voters!

The LWV Way: Study First!

Early LWV History

(Excerpts from More Power than We Knew, A History of the League of Women Voters of Oregon: 1920-2012)

“In 1920, when the 19^th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted, Oregon women already had the right to vote…In 1912, Oregon became the ninth state to grant full suffrage to women.”

When the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NASWA) held its 50^th anniversary convention in March 1919, “The call to the convention included an invitation to ‘the women voters of the fifteen full suffrage states*…to join their forces in a League of Women Voters, one of whose objects shall be to speed the suffrage campaign in our own and other countries.’”… “(T)he governing council of the new League decided to recommend as its first activity a study of state laws having to do with education and the legal status of women. That recommendation set the pattern the League was to follow all its life—study first, then action.”

Today –

“Study first, then action.” This is the process the League of Women Voters has followed since its beginning. Our activities are based upon thorough, balanced studies of public policy issues.

We offer nonpartisan and unbiased information to voters through our voter service activities, such as election forums, debates and carefully researched voting guides.
We conduct multiyear studies of governmental, environmental and social issues. Our study committees read relevant research and interview experts and advocates representing many different viewpoints. The committees publish reports about what they have learned. LWV members and the public can read these reports online or in print.
When LWV members discuss a study, they may come to an agreement about how to address the issues. Their discussions lead to our advocacy positions

The League of Women Voters of Portland is now finishing a restudy of Portland’s City Government. The League of Women Voters of Oregon recently completed a study of Hard Rock Mining in Oregon. Also, LWVOR members just voted to study Cyber Security and Privacy and Pesticides and other Biocides in Oregon. You can read about all these studies here. Then you can view our advocacy positions, based on previous studies, here.

*States granting women the right to vote prior to the 19th Amendment: Wyoming 1890, Colorado 1893, Utah 1896, Idaho 1896, Washington 1910, California 1911, Arizona 1912, Kansas 1912, Oregon 1912, Montana 1914, Nevada 1914, New York 1917, Michigan 1918, Oklahoma 1918, South Dakota 1918

Source: National Constitution Center