Guest Opinion: Your Vote, Your Voice
By Karen Spears Zacharias
Oregon led the nation in voter turnout in 2022, but just barely — Oregon edged out Maine voters by 0.5%. Oregon’s youth voter turnout was fourth in the nation, at 35.5%. The higher-than-normal mid-term election turnout was propelled in part by two issues most concerning for 18-29-year-old voters: abortion rights and gun control.
Guns are the number-one cause of deaths for those 19 years and younger. Those raised up in a nation where active shooter drills are commonplace from kindergarten through high school are using elections to fight back. According to a poll at the Harvard Institute of Politics, among voters under 30, three out of five believe in stricter gun control laws. But the primary force driving young voters is seeing their rights to reproductive health care eroded. They understand that once government denies a person of their rights, they are very difficult to regain, if ever.
There has been a great deal of reporting about the youth vote and whether the issues they care most about will compel them to turnout the vote again the way it did in 2022. A recent Harvard Institute of Politics poll suggests that youth voters are less inclined to vote, with 49% saying they “will definitely” vote in 2024 versus the 57% who said they would in 2022.
According to a report in USA Today, young voters who are most disinclined to vote are those who identify as Republicans – 56% said they would vote in 2024 as opposed to the 66% of young Republicans who said they would vote in 2022. We see the same sort of drop among the non-affiliated, only 31% who say they “definitely will” vote in 2024 versus the 41% who said they would in 2022. Among those who identify as Democrats there is only a 2% drop, from 66% down from 68%.
That potential drop in youth vote should be worrisome to all of us. Apathy is its own form of voter suppression. When voters become disenfranchised, when they fail to use their vote, they lose representation. Voters who stand to pay the highest cost of an election – our youth – too often take a “Why bother?” approach. Yet, it is their future, their rights, and in some cases, their very lives at stake. An estimated 3,190,451 Oregonians were eligible to vote in 2022, yet the number of ballots returned was far less at 1,997,689. While Oregon may have led voter turnout, does that number really reflect what we should have as a nation with a strong democracy?
This is why the League of Women Voters for Deschutes County works so very hard to educate voters of all ages, from all parties. We focus on policy, not the personalities of politicians. Our goal as a League is to further empower voters, to help those young and older to see how those policies affect our daily lives. This is why on Jan. 7 we will be hosting a public meeting at Bend’s Downtown Library from 2-3 p.m. Speakers will include Kim Gammond who chairs our candidate forum committee, Elizabeth Kirby who heads up our DEI committee and our state youth board, and Joyce Durban who heads up our Get Out the Vote committee. This is your opportunity to learn more about why your voice, your vote matters, and ways you can engage during Election 2024. See you there.
— Karen Spears Zacharias is the president of the League of Women Voters Deschutes County
Are Lori Chavez DeRemer’s Roots Showing?
Once again, Chavez DeRemer shows us her true colors as a MAGA House Representative in Oregon District 5. Although there is no “there there” when it comes to President Biden’s impeachment inquiry, she voted in lock-step with her far-right colleagues in her salute to Donald Trump.
Having already lost twice in state elections to State Representative Janelle Bynum, who is running to take back the congressional seat lost by long-term Democrat Kurt Schrader, Chavez DeRemer no longer fools us with her campaign ads.
So, why has Chavez DeRemer lost in the past to Janelle Bynum in 2016 and 2018?
Since she was elected State Representative in 2016, Janelle Bynum has a proven track record of working hard for Oregonians. As a hard-working small business owner, some of her achievements include: lowering the cost of prescription drugs, protecting women’s reproductive freedom, protecting LGBTQ+ and civil rights, investing in innovation, advocating for small businesses, building more affordable housing, taking on the climate crisis, and finding pathways for all of our young people to get ahead — certainly achievements echoed by the values we support here in Deschutes County.
Now, her endorsements to take on Lori Chavez DeRemer in the May 2024 elections include an impressive group of state and federal elected officeholders worth viewing on her election website, including Governor Kotek.
Lori Chavez DeRemer can’t hide her voting record. For those of us who want to take back Kurt Shrader’s seat, investigating the achievements of people running in the primary to take on Lori Chavez DeRemer is certainly worth your time and effort.
— Dianne Crampton
RE: Climate Friendly Communities Feature, 12/14
Oh, nice. So 15 minute cities like the one they burned down Maui to build? Super progressive. Will the town be spending our tax dollars on leprechaun hunting gear, too? Will Oprah be building a home here? What’s the occasion?
—Caleano Aldebaran via Facebook
We could have had one, a walking & biking panacea… but they put OSU on the west side.
—Scott Camps via Facebook
Letter of
the Week:
Can’t say I disagree with that assessment, Scott, but hey, Bend has so many newcomers now that the saga is forgotten by a large swath of the city! Letter of the Week.
—Nicole Vulcan
This article appears in Source Weekly December 28, 2023.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
