Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.
—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
Oregon
- Sections
- Select Testimony
- Redistricting reports
- Organizations in Oregon
- Endorsements
- Fact sheets
- More information
The U.S. Census Bureau counts incarcerated people where they are confined not where they are from. Using these counts to draw state and county legislative districts enhances the political cloud of people who live near prisons at the expense of everyone else in the state or county.
Select Testimony
- Prison Policy Initiative, Aleks Kajstura, Legal Director, 02/28/2023
- Prison Policy Initiative, Aleks Kajstura, Legal Director, 04/17/2019
- City Club of Portland James Ofsink, Chair, City Club of Portland Redistricting Committee, and Chair, Redistricting Matters Coalition, 03/10/2015
- Prison Policy Initiative, Peter Wagner, Executive Director, 03/10/2015
- AARP Oregon, Steven Carter, Volunteer, Executive Council member, 03/10/2015
- LWVOR, Robin Wisdom, LWVOR President and Norman Turrill, Governance Specialist, 03/10/2015
- Oregon Action, Darlene Huntress, Executive Director, 03/10/2015
- Carl von Rohr, member, City Club of Portland, 03/10/2015
- Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Justin Martin, 03/10/2015
Redistricting reports
Reports analyzing Oregon's 2011 redistricting efforts. These reports identify prison gerrymandering as an issue in Oregon and contain recommendations on how to address the problem.
- Oregon's 2011 Redistricting: Successes, Concerns, and Recommended Improvements, by Common Cause Oregon
- Lines that Don't Divide: A City Club of Portland report on improving Oregon's redistricting process by the City Club of Portland
Organizations in Oregon
It’s impossible to include everyone who is working toward fair districting in Oregon, but if you are looking to get involved, these are some of the people and organizations you might want to contact:
- Kate Titus, Common Cause Oregon
Endorsements
- African-American Chamber of Commerce
- City Club of Portland
- Common Cause Oregon
- Urban League of Portland
Fact sheets
- Ending prison-based gerrymandering would aid the Native American vote in Oregon [PDF]
- Prison populations skew equal representation in Oregon
- States are authorized to adjust census data to end prison-based gerrymandering, and many already do [PDF] by Prison Policy Initiative and Demos.
More information
- Pendleton inmates remain constituents who can't vote, East Oregonian, Antonio Sierra, November 30, 2021
- Legislation: including model legislation, current bills, and archive of past legislative efforts
- Pathfinder: a guide to resources on prison gerrymandering
- Effects of prison-based gerrymandering in Oregon at the state and local levels of government: 50 State Guide - Oregon.
- Oregon's 2011 Redistricting: Successes, Concerns, and Recommended Improvements by Common Cause Oregon, February 2012. Includes background on prison gerrymandering in Oregon and local analysis:
The City of Pendleton in Umatilla County provides an Oregon example of the negative effect on democracy of claiming incarcerated people as constituents of the prison location. The Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution is 28 percent of a Pendleton city council district, giving every 3 residents of the ward with the prison the political power of 4 residents in other parts of the city. Department of Corrections statistics show that virtually everyone incarcerated at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution comes from other parts of the state.
- Briefing Packet, includes general background on prison gerrymandering, model bill, and OPB news clipping.
Recommended Reading:
About the Prison Policy Initiative
Learn more about the organization behind the Prison Gerrymandering Project.
The Racial Geography of Mass Incarceration
The transfer of Black and Latino incarcerated people to communities very different than their own is a nationwide problem.
Are legislative maps hurting prison reforms?
Pam Adams explains how in her downstate Illinois column.
Do prisons draw in Census money for their host communities? No.
We explain that prison gerrymandering is bad for democracy but federal & state aid are not impacted.