The Citizens' Initiative Review

The Citizens' Initiative Review is a citizen-based review process for statewide ballot measures.  During a Citizens' Initiative Review a panel of randomly selected voters from across the state, hears arguments from the campaigns for and against a ballot measure, and is given the opportunity to call upon policy experts and affected parties to provide additional background information and testimony. Throughout this professionally facilitated multi-day review, the panel deliberates based upon what they have learned about the measure in order to:

• determine the key facts and main arguments surrounding the measure, and
• evaluate the ballot measure based upon their independent findings.

The panel concludes the review by drafting a "Citizens Statement" for inclusion in the statewide Voters' Pamphlet.  The "Citizens' Statement" summarizes the findings and positions of the panel into an easily accessible and direct report to voters statewide. These findings would be highlighted next to the explantory information about the ballot measure in the statewide Voters' Pamphlet -- providing a trustworthy, balanced, and citizen-based source of information in the hands of every voter across Oregon.  By establishing and fair and transparent process for publicly evaluating ballot measures,  the Citizens Initiative Review has the potential to restore trust an accountability to our initiative process. .

What happens?

• Once a measure qualifies for the ballot a citizens panel is convened to conduct a review.
• Each citizens panel, comprised of 18 - 24 registered voters selected at random and stratified to fairly reflect the state electorate, is tasked with studying and deliberating for 5 days on one ballot measure.
• During the deliberation process, panelists hear from pro, con and background witnesses.
• At the conclusion of the review the panelists draft a report, called a "Citizens' Statement" outlining their findings and conclusions on the ballot measure.
• The ‘Citizens' Statement" is published in the Voters Pamphlet alongside the official "Explanatory Statement" for the measure-providing the citizens of Oregon with a trustworthy, balanced, and investigative report on each ballot measure.
• A separate panel is convened for each measure to be reviewed.

Who are the panelists?

• The 18 - 24 citizen panelists are selected at random through a statewide survey.
• They are stratified to be a microcosm of Oregon in terms such as age, gender, ethnicity, education, partisan affiliation, and residence.
• They will be paid a fair day's wage for their participation.

How will this be run?

• For the proposed 2010 pilot of the Citizens' Initiative Review a public/private partnership will be created to oversee the Review process. The public/private partnership organization will be privately funded through grants.
• The review process will be facilitated by two professionally trained moderators.
• A comprehensive evaluation of the process and results of the Citizens' Initiative Review will be conducted and made available to the public. 

Why should I trust this?

• Allows the viewpoints of a microcosm of the state to be heard.
• Comes from ordinary citizens, not the proponents and opponents who each have their own agendas.
• No interest group has control.
• Process is designed to maintain neutrality and fairness.
• Based on tested methods.
• Every effort will be made to conduct the planning of and implementation of the Review process transparently.
• The process and results of the Review will be rigorously evaluated.

Details:

The Citizens Initiative Review is intended to allow a microcosm of the people of Oregon, meeting in citizens panels, to take a close look at ballot initiatives. They will spend five days doing this and then issue a report with their findings. A one-page summary of this report will be placed in the Voters Pamphlet, with the full report being available online, as well as distributed to the media.

Each citizens panel consists of 18 to 24 Oregon citizens, 18 years of age or older, who reflect fairly the population of the state as a whole with regard to age, education, political attitude and geographic location. These people are contacted at random according to high standards of scientific random sampling. Several hundred names will be gathered in this way and placed in a "jury pool." Then a final selection of 18 to 24 for each citizens panel will be done to meet the demographic targets to create a microcosm of the state. This can be done in public to enhance trust of the process.

Each panel will review one citizen-initiated measure that has qualified for the statewide ballot. The review will be conducted over  five days, during which time proponents and opponents of the initiative will testify about the reasons for and against passing the measure. The citizen panelists will have an opportunity to question these advocates, as well as to hear testimony from independent witnesses. On the final day, the panelists will divide up into those who favor the initiative and those who oppose it. They will then draft a "Citizens' Statement" listing the main reasons why they favor or oppose the initiative and indicate information that helped them to make up their minds. They will also indicate how many of them favored and how many opposed the initiative.

The CIR is designed to help Oregon citizens make sound voting decisions and to strengthen the voice of average citizens in the initiative process. The CIR report in the Voters Pamphlet will be brief and clear, yet will provide evaluation and analysis that reflects in-depth consideration from different points of view. The mix of citizens from around the state will help the panelists focus on what is good for Oregon as a whole.

If voters want more information about the panelists' review of an initiative, they will be able to review the testimony and proceedings of the panel through a new CIR web site established to provide substantive background information from the Review process. This web site will bring together, in one place, the summaries of the positions of the opposing sides, independent information such as economic analysis, and the discussions of the panelists. Without having to spend excessive time and money on gathering relevant information and reviewing each initiative in depth, the general public will be able to access easily the reliable information they need to make their evaluations.

Each Oregon voter most likely will continue to use his or her own sources of information in making voting decisions; however, the CIR panel report will alert them to facts and perspectives that they would not have been given otherwise. The pro and con witnesses at the hearings will be forced to go beyond sound bites and to answer the panelists' questions in an honest and clear manner. This is an opportunity which citizens almost never get. The results of this analysis will be presented in a clear and simple way easily accessible to the voters of Oregon.