1962 Oregon Ballot Measure 9

none Ballot Measure 9 November 6, 1962 Legislative Apportionment Constitutional Amendment Oregon 197,322 325,182 File:1962 Oregon Measure 9.svg County resultsYes: #B6C8D9 50–60% #7D9CBB 60–70% #47729E 70–80%No: #DEDEBD 50–60% #BCBC83 60–70% #8B8B54 70–80% Measure 9 was a ballot initiative concerning state legislative redistricting in the State of Oregon held on November 6, 1962. If ratified, it would have amended the Constitution of Oregon establish a new process for reapportioning the Oregon State Legislature effective after the 1970 U.S. Census, as well as introducing a new temporary plan. The Senate reapportionment process would have been largely left alone, but the apportionment of the state house would have been highly modified, creating a frozen 30-district map that representatives would be apportioned to. A leading criticism of the proposed plan was that the apportionment formula used would have widened the population disparity between urban and rural districts, while proponents argued that the new formula would make the representative distribution more fair to rural areas, especially to Eastern Oregon. The measure was rejected by a 25-point margin. Amendment If ratified, the Measure 9 would have:1962 State of Oregon voters' pamphlet (general election) https://digitalcollections.library.oregon.gov/nodes/view/24518 Oregon Secretary of State 15 October 2026 Repealed Sections 2 and 6 of Article IV of the Constitution of Oregon, which concerned the number and apportionment of state senators and representatives. Established a minimum of 65 seats in the Oregon House of Representatives, up from its current number of 60, allotted among permanent, constitutionally-defined House districts in a multi-step process, with each receiving at least one representative. The boundaries of House districts would not have been changed following decennial censuses. After each census, representatives would have been apportioned to the districts based on their population. Then, if a population per representative number of a district exceeded four times that of that of the district with the smallest such number, it would receive an additional representative. Established a minimum of 30 seats in the Oregon State Senate, its current number, with the Legislature permitted to increase the size of the Senate up to 35. The formula for apportionment would have remained "substantially unchanged." The amendment would have become operative on Election Day, and for the purposes of nominating legislative candidates prior to Election Day. The official explanatory statement of the measure stated that "the probable effect of this amendment will be to give somewhat more emphasis in the House of Representatives to representation from sparsely settled counties and to make some Representative Districts not so large in area as is now the case." Temporary apportionment House of Representatives thumb|Population balance of the House as set by this measure District County 1960 Population Seats People per seat 1 Clatsop 27,380 1 27,380 2 Columbia 22,379 1 22,379 3 Tillamook 18,955 1 18,955 4 Washington 92,237 3 30,746 5 Yamhill 32,478 1 32,478 6 Multnomah 522,813 17 30,754 7 Clackamas 113,038 4 28,260 8 Lincoln 24,635 1 24,635 9 Polk 26,523 1 26,523 10 Benton 39,165 1 39,165 11 Marion 120,888 4 30,222 12 Linn 58,867 2 29,434 13 Lane 162,890 5 32,578 14 Douglas 68,458 2 34,229 15 Coos 54,955 2 27,478 16 Curry 13,983 1 13,983 17 Josephine 29,917 1 29,917 18 Jackson 73,962 3 24,654 19 Hood River 13,395 1 13,395 20 Wasco 20,205 1 20,205 21 Sherman, Gilliam, Morrow 10,386 1 10,386 22 Umatilla 44,352 2 22,176 23 Union, Wallowa 25,282 1 25,282 24 Jefferson, Crook 16,560 1 16,560 25 Baker 17,295 1 17,295 26 Deschutes 23,100 1 23,100 27 Lake, Harney 13,902 1 13,902 28 Wheeler, Grant 10,448 1 10,448 29 Malheur 22,764 1 22,764 30 Klamath 47,475 2 23,738 AVERAGE 27,211 Endorsements For Leading campaign Citizens Committee For Representative Government Newspapers Herald and NewsVote YES On Measure No. 9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/herald-and-news-vote-yes-on-measure-no/208360753/ 15 October 2026 Herald and News 2 November 1962 The Capital JournalConfusion on No. 9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-capital-journal-confusion-on-no-9/208360872/ 15 October 2026 The Capital Journal 5 November 1962 Corvallis Gazette-TimesThe Controversial Measure 9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/corvallis-gazette-times-the-controversi/208361415/ 15 October 2026 Corvallis Gazette-Times 31 October 1962 The Lebanon ExpressExpress Editorials... https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lebanon-express-express-editorials/208361500/ 15 October 2026 1 November 1962 The ObserverVote 'YES' On Reapportionment https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-observer-vote-yes-on-reapportionme/208361764/ 15 October 2026 The Observer 30 October 1962 The BulletinThere are two good reasons for Central Oregonians to support Ballot No. 9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bulletin-there-are-two-good-reasons/208361859/ 15 October 2026 The Bulletin 30 October 1962 Against Leading campaign Bipartisan Committee to Retain Equal Representation Organizations Oregon AFL–CIOWomen Voters join Measure 9 fighters https://www.newspapers.com/article/oregon-labor-press-women-voters-join-mea/208357140/ 15 October 2026 Oregon Labor Press 5 October 1962 Oregon League of Women Voters Newspapers Capital PressMeasure No. 9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/capital-press-western-oregon-ed-measu/208356976/ 15 October 2026 Capital Press 19 October 1962 The OregonianTwo Tricky Issues https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian-two-tricky-issues/208360385/ 15 October 2026 The Oregonian 31 October 1962 The Register-GuardNo. 9: Step in the Wrong Direction https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-register-guard-no-9-step-in-the-wr/208360121/ 15 October 2026 The Register-Guard 27 October 1962 The WorldKreger Bill Reviewing The Measures https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-world-reviewing-the-measures/208359938/ 15 October 2026 The World 3 November 1962 Results Voters in Oregon soundly rejected the measure by a margin of 127,827 votes, or nearly 25 percentage points. Counties west of the Oregon Cascades broadly rejected the amendment, while counties east of the Cascades broadly supported it. 1962 Oregon Ballot Measure 9Official Abstract of Votes - General Election - November 6, 1962 https://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSCMSearch/Search/RecordViewer.aspx?uri=8411022 Oregon Secretary of State 15 October 2026 197322 325182 Results by county CountyForAgainstMarginTotal#%#%#% Baker 2,671 60.36% 1,754 39.64% 917 20.72% 4,425 Benton 4,597 42.95% 6,105 57.05% −1,508 −14.09% 10,702 Clackamas 12,161 31.72% 26,178 68.28% −14,017 −36.56% 38,339 Clatsop 2,983 36.72% 5,141 63.28% −2,158 −26.56% 8,124 Columbia 2,072 30.81% 4,652 69.19% −2,580 −38.37% 6,724 Coos 4,222 29.88% 9,906 70.12% −5,684 −40.23% 14,128 Crook 1,281 55.87% 1,012 44.13% 269 11.73% 2,293 Curry 1,364 43.34% 1,783 56.66% −419 −13.31% 3,147 Deschutes 4,293 65.51% 2,260 34.49% 2,033 31.02% 6,553 Douglas 9,431 57.06% 7,097 42.94% 2,334 14.12% 16,528 Gilliam 729 73.79% 259 26.21% 470 47.57% 988 Grant 1,170 66.52% 589 33.48% 581 33.03% 1,759 Harney 1,218 64.27% 677 35.73% 541 28.55% 1,895 Hood River 2,356 62.33% 1,424 37.67% 932 24.66% 3,780 Jackson 11,532 54.55% 9,608 45.45% 1,924 9.10% 21,140 Jefferson 1,308 68.09% 613 31.91% 695 36.18% 1,921 Josephine 5,232 60.68% 3,390 39.32% 1,842 21.36% 8,622 Klamath 7,649 66.33% 3,882 33.67% 3,767 32.67% 11,531 Lake 895 58.12% 645 41.88% 250 16.23% 1,540 Lane 14,102 29.00% 34,224 70.38% −20,122 −41.38% 48,626 Lincoln 2,342 34.81% 4,386 65.19% −2,044 −30.38% 6,728 Linn 5,012 31.74% 10,780 68.26% −5,768 −36.52% 15,792 Malheur 4,322 76.70% 1,313 23.30% 3,009 53.40% 5,635 Marion 10,538 31.15% 23,296 68.85% −12,758 −37.71% 33,834 Morrow 1,033 73.84% 366 26.16% 667 47.68% 1,399 Multnomah 47,381 28.33% 119,881 71.67% −72,500 −43.35% 167,262 Polk 2,743 34.58% 5,190 65.42% −2,447 −30.85% 7,933 Sherman 521 63.93% 294 36.07% 227 27.85% 815 Tillamook 2,090 38.20% 3,381 61.80% −1,291 −23.60% 5,471 Umatilla 7,463 67.89% 3,530 32.11% 3,933 35.78% 10,993 Union 3,092 59.00% 2,149 41.00% 943 17.99% 5,241 Wallowa 947 52.41% 860 47.59% 87 4.81% 1,807 Wasco 3,006 53.98% 2,563 46.02% 443 7.95% 5,569 Washington 10,575 33.52% 20,975 66.48% −10,400 −32.96% 31,550 Wheeler 286 52.29% 261 47.71% 25 4.57% 547 Yamhill 4,705 49.72% 4,758 50.28% −53 −0.56% 9,463 See also 1962 Oregon Ballot Measure 1 References 30em Ballot Measure 9 9 Category:November 1962 in the United States