PORTLAND, Ore. — Two of Oregon's four statewide ballot measures in the midterm election appeared to be headed for easy passage based on initial results.
Measure 112 would amend the state constitution to ban slavery in all circumstances, eliminating a carve-out that currently allows slavery as punishment for a crime, i.e. involuntary prison labor.
Measure 113 aims to limit the use of the legislative walkout tactic. State legislators who rack up 10 or more unexcused absences in a single session would be banned from serving in the following session.
Initial results late Tuesday night showed Measure 112 on track to pass with 54% of Oregonians voting Yes and 46% voting no. Measure 113 was on track by a much larger margin — 68% Yes to 32% No.
The election night results are not final, and many ballots remain to be counted in the coming days, but the margin of Yes votes was great enough for The Oregonian to project fairly early in the evening that both measures were headed for passage.
Later in the evening, the Oregonian also projected that Measure 114, a gun control initiative that would create a permitting system for gun purchases, was also headed for passage with a narrower ratio of 51% Yes and 49% No.
The final statewide measure on the ballot, Measure 111, remained too close to call late Tuesday night, with 50.5% No votes to 49.5% Yes votes. If passed, it would add a right to health care to the Oregon Constitution.