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Impeachment of Elected State Executives Amendment: Authorizes impeachment of statewide elected officials by Oregon Legislature with two-thirds vote by each House; establishes process. | ||||||||||
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 Results by county
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Oregon Ballot Measure 115, entitled theImpeachment of Elected State Executives Amendment, was a proposed amendment to theConstitution of Oregon that was decided by voters as part of the2024 Oregon elections on November 5, 2024.[1][2] As approved by voters, it amended the state Constitution to grant theOregon State Legislature the power to impeach and remove statewide elected officials in the Executive branch of the Oregon state government: theOregon Governor,Oregon Secretary of State,Oregon Attorney General,Oregon State Treasurer, andOregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries.[3][4]
On May 1, 2023, then Oregon secretary of stateShemia Fagan announced that she would resign following reporting fromWillamette Week that she had been working as a private consultant for the owners of La Mota, a cannabis dispensary chain operating in Oregon, while the Audits Division, which reported to Fagan, worked on an audit of theOregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.[5] Fagan's resignation followed calls from Republican leaders in both chambers of the Oregon State Legislature for her to resign and occurred after GovernorTina Kotek launched an ethics investigation into Fagan's actions. Over a month after Fagan's resignation, each house of the Oregon Legislature voted unanimously to send the proposed impeachment referral to voters for the 2024 general election.[6][7]
As of 2024, Oregon was the only state without an impeachment doctrine enshrined in its state Constitution.[8] The only mechanism Oregon had for removing elected officials from office was recall, a process that had never in Oregon's history been successful at removing a governor or other statewide elected official.[9]
Proponents of the measure argued that it was needed to expedite the removal of a statewide official for malfeasance and to give state legislators a mechanism for doing so that can be utilized by legislators in all other states. Oregon Rep.Jami Cate, aLebanon Republican, cited the past ethics violations of previous elected officials, including Fagan, as evidence that this was a tool needed by the state legislature.[10] Opponents argued that the current recall system was already sufficient and that voters should retain the right to remove officials that they themselves elected.[11]
Under the amendment, grounds for impeachment are "malfeasance or corrupt conduct in office, willful neglect of statutory or constitutional duty or other felony or high crime." The measure requires a two-thirds supermajority vote of theOregon House of Representatives to impeach a statewide elected official. If successfully impeached, the chief justice of theOregon Supreme Court would preside over a trial in theOregon State Senate. After the conclusion of the trial, a vote of the state senators would be held on conviction of the official and would require another two-thirds supermajority vote to convict.[10]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | For Measure 115 | Against Measure 115 | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Policy Polling (D)[12][b] | October 16–17, 2024 | 716 (LV) | ± 3.7% | 53% | 24% | 22% |
Vote tallies by county:[13]
| County | Yes | Votes | No | Votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker | 47.86 | 4,392 | 52.14 | 4,785 | 9,177 |
| Benton | 67.07 | 31,814 | 32.93 | 15,623 | 47,437 |
| Clackamas | 63.81 | 143,553 | 36.19 | 81,405 | 224,958 |
| Clatsop | 62.22 | 13,389 | 37.78 | 8,130 | 21,519 |
| Columbia | 57.40 | 16,932 | 42.60 | 12,566 | 29,498 |
| Coos | 54.57 | 18,246 | 45.43 | 15,193 | 33,439 |
| Crook | 49.43 | 7,667 | 50.57 | 7,845 | 15,512 |
| Curry | 53.85 | 7,094 | 46.15 | 6,080 | 13,174 |
| Deschutes | 63.41 | 75,997 | 36.59 | 43,861 | 119,858 |
| Douglas | 48.27 | 28,193 | 51.73 | 30,211 | 58,404 |
| Gilliam | 42.50 | 459 | 57.50 | 621 | 1,080 |
| Grant | 40.46 | 1,695 | 59.54 | 2,494 | 4,189 |
| Harney | 41.66 | 1,680 | 58.34 | 2,353 | 4,033 |
| Hood River | 69.72 | 8,260 | 30.28 | 3,588 | 11,848 |
| Jackson | 54.13 | 60,620 | 45.87 | 51,360 | 111,980 |
| Jefferson | 52.70 | 5,861 | 47.30 | 5,261 | 11,122 |
| Josephine | 41.19 | 18,853 | 58.81 | 26,917 | 45,770 |
| Klamath | 50.69 | 16,846 | 49.31 | 16,386 | 33,232 |
| Lake | 45.30 | 1,807 | 54.70 | 2,182 | 3,989 |
| Lane | 64.21 | 126,114 | 35.79 | 70,280 | 196,394 |
| Lincoln | 62.74 | 17,480 | 37.26 | 10,383 | 27,863 |
| Linn | 54.66 | 36,845 | 45.34 | 30,563 | 67,408 |
| Malheur | 55.43 | 5,777 | 44.57 | 4,646 | 10,423 |
| Marion | 60.56 | 89,601 | 39.44 | 58,342 | 147,943 |
| Morrow | 45.45 | 2,032 | 54.55 | 2,439 | 4,471 |
| Multnomah | 80.28 | 303,176 | 19.72 | 74,484 | 377,660 |
| Polk | 57.31 | 25,735 | 42.69 | 19,167 | 44,902 |
| Sherman | 58.97 | 651 | 41.03 | 453 | 1,104 |
| Tillamook | 58.63 | 8,902 | 41.37 | 6,282 | 15,184 |
| Umatilla | 59.37 | 17,338 | 40.63 | 11,863 | 29,201 |
| Union | 48.90 | 6,757 | 51.10 | 7,062 | 13,819 |
| Wallowa | 47.99 | 2,317 | 52.01 | 2,511 | 4,828 |
| Wasco | 56.33 | 7,043 | 43.67 | 5,460 | 12,503 |
| Washington | 70.38 | 196,795 | 29.62 | 82,821 | 279,616 |
| Wheeler | 40.67 | 338 | 59.33 | 493 | 831 |
| Yamhill | 56.61 | 30,578 | 43.39 | 23,433 | 54,011 |
