PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Earlier this week, the Greater Idaho movement submitted a petition that could potentially add its ballot initiative onto Wallowa County’s ballot in May 2023.
Greater Idaho advocates are pushing for the states of Oregon and Idaho to move their borders so that Oregonians who live in more conservative counties can be a part of Idaho, which has historically been dominated by Republican voters.
According to Oregon’s Election Division, new measures are placed on ballots as long as the petition received enough valid signatures.
If Greater Idaho’s petition is successful and makes it onto the ballot, Wallowa County could be the 12th Oregon county — out of the 15 included in the proposal — to vote in favor of moving the state lines. Wheeler, Klamath, Harney and Malheur counties are among the counties who have supported the movement in past elections.
“Two major statewide ballot measures got 51% of the vote last month,” Greater Idaho spokesperson Matt McCaw said in a release. “That means Eastern Oregon came within one percentage point of vetoing them. Western Oregon would be free of our interference if they stopped holding Eastern Oregon captive and let our communities join Idaho.”
Greater Idaho says that the movement’s initiatives demonstrate to legislators that voters want to discuss changing the state lines.
“If Oregon had let Harney County go when it voted for our measure, then a Harney County judge wouldn’t have blocked Oregon’s gun control initiative from going into effect statewide. Now his injunction might stand for a couple years while he decides the case. Harney County is ranchland, and Portland is not. It doesn’t make sense for these two cultures to be dictating policy to each other,” McCaw said.
