Oregon high court says 10 GOP state senators who staged long walkout can’t run for reelection

silence7@slrpnk.net to politics @lemmy.world – 552 points –
Oregon high court says 10 GOP state senators who staged long walkout can’t run for reelection
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I'd say that it's not a good path to tread to have courts deciding who can and can't be on the ballot, however, in this particular case, it was put to the voters, and these guys knew the rule when they broke it, so c'est la vie

As for their argument, I'd say go with it... Let them run, let them get elected, then bar them for the term... That's actually how the wording works out... Theyre correct that they can technically run, but it's pretty specific about being unable to seve the term.

Fuck around and let a district go unrepresented for a term because legislators wanna play the "well ackshually" game, and the voters will sort that shit right out.

No thanks. We don't want elected officials cheating their way into illegal filibusters explicitly prohibited by law.

That is not a functioning democracy. If the minority can simply refuse to participate, so no work can be done by either side.

And no, voters having the ability to wait (potentially) years to just vote them out in the next cycle does not make it a functioning democracy.

This. Everyone knows how a vote is supposed to work. If there are ten people, six of them vote for A and the other four leave, A wins.

But how do i know A didn't rig the elections? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

The problem with that is it denies all of the people in that district their right to representation. It's not fair to punish people just because voters were dumb enough to elect someone who can't actually serve. The reasonable thing to do is ban unqualified candidates from the ballot. Otherwise it's like electing a dead person, they are going to have to hold a special election or appoint someone or do whatever the legal process is to fill the vacancy ASAP.

It's not fair to punish people just because voters were dumb enough to elect someone who can't actually serv

But isn't it the dumb voters being punished here? I kind of agree with OP

It's everyone in the district being punished, not just those who voted, and not just those who voted "dumb". That's not justice.

I'd rather have no representation than one of these bad faith assholes "representing" me.

have courts deciding who can and can't be on the ballot

Who but the courts rules on 14th amendment violations?

I've often wondered if this should be the punishment for failing to draw up constitutionally legal district maps. If a state can't figure out how to not gerrymander the heck out of itself, deny them represention for a term while they sort it out. Arguably the people elected under such maps don't reflect the true will of the people anyways

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