Dear John,

We need your help! Right now, Oregon is going through a critical process for our democracy called redistricting. Redistricting is when the state redraws political districts based on population changes in the census, and it’s a big deal: redistricting impacts who is advocating for you as well as the causes you care about, like fighting climate change, reducing pollution, protecting wildlife, and more.   

The legislature only has until September 27th to finish the redistricting process. That means that now is the time to tell politicians what you think!

Hundreds of Oregonians have shown up and made their voices heard about how they want their communities to be represented. The problem is, right now extreme special interests are pressuring the legislature to pass blatantly gerrymandered maps which would silence the voices of everyday Oregonians and other communities of interest for the next 10 years.

We just can't let that happen. That's where you come in—can we count on you to take two minutes to send your elected officials an email urging them to pass fair maps? There's so much on the line with this vote, and the clock is ticking.

Use this link to check out the map proposals—You'll see that Maps, A, C and the maps submitted by Our Oregon do the most to keep communities of interest together—empowering those communities to elect candidates that will respect their values and represent their needs.  For instance, these maps reflect the growth seen in Deschutes and Washington Counties, and respect the interconnectedness of rural, urban, and coastal areas through commerce and transit links.

Map B, supported by the extreme right-wing, does the exact opposite. It is a clear attempt at both partisan and racial gerrymandering which would disenfranchise far too many Oregonians. It attempts to box in and cut off diverse and growing areas such as Bend and Washington County, and dilutes Latinx communities of interest in Salem and Woodburn and AAPI communities of interest in Washington County.

Click here to use our fast and easy tool to send an email to your elected officials now.

Thank you for all you do!

Lindsey Scholten
Deputy Director, OLCV