jump to navigation

The coalition of those urging a NO vote on Measure 61 is growing! September 5, 2008

Posted by FairSentencing in : Current News , 2 comments

A diverse group of organizations has formally come out against Measure 61 urging a “No” vote in statements placed in the 2008 State Voter Guide. Partnership for Safety and Justice is joined by groups like Stand for Children, the United Way Mid-Willamette Valley, Oregon PTA, Federation of Oregon Parole and Probation Officers, the Oregon Business Association, and AARP – to name several. The extensive list of groups opposing Mannix’s Measure 61 undercuts his rhetoric of referring to it as a “citizen sponsored” measure. Mannix doesn’t have a broad base of support, which is made incredibly obvious by the state Voter Guide. The list of organizations in favor of Measure 57 (PSJ’s position) is even longer. For a complete listing of statements by groups and individuals in the voter pamphlet about Measure 61 and other measures, use the following link to the Oregon Secretary of State’s website: http://www.oregonvotes.org/nov42008/military_vp/m61.html. Information on the other ballot measures can be found on the left side of the page.

Our progress and next steps – phone calls to voters

With the help of the PolitiCorps Fellows at the Bus Project and our own stalwart volunteers, we were able to canvass 5,440 homes this summer. Canvassing took place in North and Northeast Portland, and in Salem. Even though the movement against Measure 61 is growing, WE STILL NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Partnership for Safety and Justice is helping to defeat Measure 61 by organizing direct contact with voters. Our big push now is to call a targeted list of voters most likely to be persuaded to vote against Measure 61. The list is huge – up to 80,000 people. Though this is volunteer-intensive work, we are engaged in the fight of our lives. These phone calls are critical to mobilizing Oregonians to stop this mandatory minimum madness. We will begin to make calls practically nightly from next week until Election Day. So if you can join us 6 or 7 times over the next 60 days – or just once or twice – please contact me to let me know when you can join us to stop this measure in its tracks. We only get one shot at this, so we need to give everything we got right now!

Karen Meurer
Campaign Organizer
karen [at] safetyandjustice [dot] org

Share