Oregon Public Broadcasting

An experiment in political advice for Oregon voters is winning praise from a researcher who reviewed the process. A 24-member Citizens' Initiative Review panel evaluated two measures that appeared on last month's ballot.

The results of the findings appeared in the state's Voters' Pamphlet.

University of Washington researcher John Gastil told an Oregon House committee Thursday that post-election analysis showed that only 42 percent of Oregon voters were even aware of the Review panel's work.

But he said those who were aware said the evaluation played a key role in whether they voted “yes” or “no.”

John Gastil: "In the case of these two particular measures, it tended to decrease support. There's no reason why that would necessarily happen in the future. One thing that might happen in fact is that in the future, people writing initiatives might be even more careful about how they write initiatives with a process like this in mind."

As it turns out, voters were not in the mood to follow the advice of the Citizens' Initiative Review. They voted contrary to the panels' recommendations on the two ballot measures that were reviewed.

Supporters of the Initiative Review Panel want to make the process a permanent part of Oregon elections in the future.

Citizens' Initiative Review website

University of Washington Professor John Gastil's website on Citizens' Initiative Review