Note: This post offers an interesting idea about one of the core elements of Oregon's democracy. The IPO generally supports making our democratic instruments more readily available to average citizens and believes in the importance of an informed electorate. The party has some serious concerns about political and legislative efforts that have resulted in the hyper-professionalization, greatly increased costs, and increasingly mercenary nature of the initiative and referendum system and would like to see control of that system restored to the people of Oregon, instead of to the politically powerful or the wealthy few.

Editorial: Internet could help initiatives

Hasso Hering
Albany Democrat-Herald
March 24, 2009

Most of our legislators want to make life easier for voters by using the Internet, but not all the time.

The House last week voted 45-9 for HB 2386, directing the secretary of state to set up a system so citizens can register to vote online. (The opponents included Albany’s Andy Olson.)

Kate Brown, the secretary of state, assured lawmakers that online registrations would be just as secure as the traditional way.

The bill as passed by the House requires the DMV to give the secretary of state a digital copy of the driver license or ID card signature of anyone who registers online. You don’t have to be a citizen to get a driver’s license, so the system will do nothing to overcome the current weakness in voter registrations.

Still, most House members are eager to make things easier for voters, especially young voters who already spend their lives online.

They are not as eager to help voters who disagree with something the legislature has done, or who want to pass something the legislature has refused to pass.

Brown is asking the legislature for additional requirements on voter initiatives, among them that people paid to collect signatures on prospective petitions register with her office first and complete a training program.

But if it’s possible to use the Internet for secure election procedures such as signing up new voters, why not work out a system where initiatives could be submitted and even circulated online?

Handling initiative petitions online would solve several problems, including that of paid petition collectors coming up with phony names. It would also do away with the uncertainty in counting signatures.

After meeting the initial procedural requirements, proposed initiatives could be posted on the secretary of state’s site. Supporters could sign them there electronically, and their status as voters could be verified electronically too.

You won’t see such a system any time soon. It’s one thing to flatter potential young voters who spend their lives online. It’s quite another to make it easy for voters generally, including older ones, to have their say on laws. (hh)