Clarity wins in ballot title dispute

Clarity is the winner in this week’s Oregon Supreme Court decision on a ballot title regarding driver cards for immigrants in the country without legal permission.

The court affirmed language from Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum that is clear about the effects of the ballot measure, defeating efforts to confuse voters.

The approved title, which is expected to appear on November ballots, says: “Provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.”

Ballot titles are often disputed because of their huge impact; many voters never see any other description of the measure before casting their votes.

This story started with the 2013 Legislature approving Senate Bill 833 to grant four-year driver cards to residents who can’t prove they are here legally. Advocates said the law would encourage all residents to learn the rules of the road, get insurance and drive legally, helping them get to and from work and participate fully in the economy. The cards would have a label to distinguish them from regular licenses.

Opponents gathered signatures to suspend the measure and put it on the ballot.

But supporters of the driver cards were unhappy with the ballot title written by the attorney general, and tried to obscure it by passing House Bill 4054 during the 2014 legislative session. That bill would have removed reference to “legal presence” from the ballot title, stating the ballot measure: “establishes limited purpose, duration driver card for individuals who prove Oregon residency, meet driving requirements.”

Fortunately, the bill failed.

It was, however, one of the more visibly cynical efforts in the 2014 session. Leaving out a reference to legal residence clearly obscures the reason and effect of the measure. It appeared to be an ends-justify-the-means sort of maneuver.

Voters can’t express their views if they can’t tell what they are voting on. Obscuring their understanding is the opposite of what ballot titles should do.

That’s a principle all sides of the argument should share.