motherjones--2020-11-02--What’s the Plan If a Natural Disaster Strikes on Election Day? It’s Complicated.

In May , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the approaching hurricane season , which runs from June through November , would be “ above-normal.
” By late September , the season had already seen twice the number of named storms of a comparable period .
Hurricane Laura , the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana since 1856 , was responsible for about $ 10 billion in damage .
With less than a week before Election Day Hurricane Zeta , a category two storm , left over 2 million people without power in the South and at least six people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eastern Louisiana .
Meanwhile , residents in the West have fled wildfires that have engulfed millions of acres across Colorado , Utah , California , Washington , and Oregon , and states across the South are still picking up the pieces left by storms from earlier this year .
By one estimate , more than a million Americans are displaced by natural disasters each year .
Against this backdrop , the most tumultuous presidential campaign season in modern history will culminate on November 3 , a date that can not be changed no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As a result , states in potentially hard-hit areas have made extra efforts to insure votes can be submitted in a timely fashion .
But what happens if portions of a state can ’ t participate in a national election due to an unforeseen natural disaster ?
“ You could have a redo , basically , on a subsequent day , ” says Michael Morley , a law professor at Florida State University who has written extensively about Election Day emergencies .
Federal law mandates that all presidential and congressional elections happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in November , but allows states to postpone Election Day if necessary .
“ During the congressional debates that led up to the Presidential Election Day statute , one of the reasons for this provision was that somebody from Virginia said that they get a lot of flooding , and that people have trouble getting to the polls .
Sometimes they ’ re not able to complete their elections .
Natural disasters were one of the main things that the enacting Congress had in mind when they adopted this law.
” When Hurricane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the 2012 election , displaced New Jersey residents scrambled to vote by email and fax , overwhelming the county clerks charged with transmitting their votes .
Meanwhile , in New York City , in-person voters faced long lines and ballot shortages .
Four years later , Hurricane Matthew walloped North Carolina ’ s coast , and the state Democratic party successfully sued the state to extend the voter registration deadline for affected residents .
Still , voter turnout dropped slightly in counties hardest hit by the storm .
One of the nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Katrina , which struck New Orleans in August 2005 , killing nearly 2,000 people and causing $ 40 billion in damage .
Municipal elections , including for mayor , scheduled five months after the storm had to be postponed an additional two months .
“ If Hurricane Katrina were to hit on Presidential Election Day , or the day before Presidential Election Day , it would be extraordinarily unlikely , I think , for the people in New Orleans , to be able to vote at a later point , ” Morley says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Whether or not Louisiana would be counted in the electoral college without submitting its votes isn ’ t clear .
“ We don ’ t know what would happen if , for example , you had Mississippi , Alabama , Louisiana , and Florida unable to vote on Election Day , ” says Norman Ornstein , a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute , a public policy think tank .
“ Do you postpone the whole election , which would require a change in the law ?
The idea that you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region of the country after knowing how everyone else had voted is fraught with peril.
” How prepared states are to handle an extreme event—whether a hurricane , earthquake , or a wildfire—on the eve of an election requires looking at what provisions are already in place , and how they ’ ve been used in the past .
In the last two decades , multiple elections have been disrupted , but never thwarted .
Still , even if a natural disaster doesn ’ t postpone the election , it could further complicate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas and Florida , where victory margins promise to be razor thin .
“ Hurricanes , unlike efforts by some of our elected officials , are indiscriminate in whom they target , ” says Daniel Smith , chair of the University of Florida ’ s department of political science .
“ The question is how well will local elections officials be able to respond—and to whom they will be responding—in those damaged communities.
” Most state governments have an array of tools to expand election access during a natural disaster .
The governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can extend deadlines for early voting and mail-in ballots , allow ballots to be forwarded to temporary addresses , permit local election officials to add new voting and polling places , or even postpone an election altogether .
In California , for instance , residents displaced by fires are not permitted to have their ballots forwarded to a new or temporary address , but they can re-register before or even on Election Day using a new address .
In Santa Cruz , where the CZU Lightning Complex fire burned more than 86,000 acres @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clerk ’ s office hosted biweekly Zoom meetings to keep displaced voters abreast of their voting options .
They ’ ve also dispatched a “ mobile voting unit ” to shelters and other parts of the county to allow wildfire victims to register , vote , and request replacement ballots .
The Shasta County Registrar of Voters has said they plan to reach out to voters affected by the Zogg Fire—which destroyed more than 200 structures in late September and early October—who haven ’ t yet cast their ballots .
“ Probably a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also going to go through our voter history file , ” the registrar told the Sacramento NPR-affiliate CapRadio .
“ We probably will just do phone calls at that point to try and find folks and make sure they know what their options are.
” To the east , Colorado is in the midst of the largest wildfire season in its history , with firefighters battling East Troublesome , the second-largest blaze on record .
After the fire incinerated an “ unheard of ” 100,000 acres in one day in October , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst of the worst of the worst.
” That could make voting difficult for the several thousand residents who quickly evacuated , especially if they ’ ve left ballots behind .
Perhaps unsurprisingly , “ [ voting ] may not be the highest on their priority list quite yet , ” Angela Myers , county clerk in Larimer County where East Troublesome is burning , told the Colorado Sun earlier this week .
But in some ways , Colorado was already prepared .
In 2013 , the state overhauled its election system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receive mail-in ballots , which they can submit at voter service and polling centers ( VSPC ) across the state—even outside the jurisdiction in which they ’ re registered .
For registered votes who had to evacuate and left their ballots behind , VSPC also distributed replacement ballots .
The Colorado Secretary of State ’ s Office also activated its electronic ballot delivery system for evacuees and firefighters , which allows them to print an emergency ballot and envelope .
Early voting has made a difference , in spite of still-burning wildfires .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ two million ballots , nearly half of the number that were received by this time in the 2016 election .
Almost 130,000 of those votes are from flame-ravaged Larimer County , only 50,000 short of the 2016 voting total .
“ All of those features were always good for voters , ” said Amanda Gonzalez , the executive director of Colorado Common Cause , to the Colorado Sun , “ [ They ] are particularly good for voters now.
” “ Hurricane season is generally during voting season , ” Hillsborough County , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says .
When Hurricane Andrew , a category five storm inundated the state in 1992 , Latimer remembers contingency efforts used to bolster voting access .
“ I was with the Hillsborough County Sheriff ’ s Office , and I took folks down on a mutual aid response to Miami .
We had this fabulous navy mess tent , and on the third day it was off limits—it became a voting site.
” Asked if he was concerned about getting Florida ’ s electoral tallies in on time in the event of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , no.
” In the run up to this year ’ s election , he says the Florida Supervisors of Elections have run “ tabletop exercises.
” But hurricane damage can be difficult to predict , and storms “ are pretty specific in where they hit , they don ’ t hit the whole state.
” Extra resources for voting in the aftermath of disaster are deployed at a local level , but , Latimer says , “ It ’ s the state calling the shots.
” Smith , from the University of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t really think it matters ultimately what ’ s in that tool box , because it ’ s the governor who ’ s going to determine whether to open it or not.
” The state ’ s current governor , Republican Ron DeSantis , hasn ’ t been keen to expand voting access , one need only look at his efforts to prohibit convicted felons from voting , despite a 2018 statewide ballot where Floridians voted to end the state ’ s longstanding ban .
“ My fear is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather than making sure that all voters have an opportunity to exercise their vote in the eyes of a storm , ” Smith says .
In October , 2018 , Hurricane Michael slammed into Florida , causing $ 25 billion in damage and throwing state elections into disarray .
Within days , secretary of state Ken Detzner announced orders to expand early voting and gave local election officials permission to add voting sites .
Notably , Detzner only extended voter registration by a single day in counties where election offices were closed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the local supervisor of elections opened controversial “ mega-voting sites ” that the local NAACP chapter said were geographically inaccessible to the Black community .
Even small disruptions , or ones that are limited to a specific location , could have huge implications if they happened during a national election .
The 2000 , the presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore was decided by a margin of fewer than 600 votes .
In 2020 , things are even more complicated .
With the pandemic , Smith estimates that half of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year are being cast early or by mail .
By Election Day , many more voters will have cast their ballot than usual .
A hurricane might disrupt more mail-in votes if it strikes before November 3 , but a voting day storm would be less of a threat .
“ The more people take advantage of things like early voting , in-person absentee voting , absentee voting , the more opportunity there is to mitigate , or at least lessen the impact of a cataclysmic event like Katrina on Election Day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Election Day , ” Morley explains .
Florida may have an array of election disaster tools , but Texas has an actual manual .
The state ’ s plan for election-day natural disasters is summed up in three words that appear four times in their manual : “ Voting Must Continue !
” The Texas Secretary of State ’ s election disaster planning guidance , says that in cases where elections offices or polling stations lose power , or are inaccessible due to floods or structural damage , the state recommends election officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If all else fails , they tell officials to relocate affected polling locations .
There ’ s no official procedure for relocating polling stations laid out in Texas ’ election code , so the logistics are left to local officials .
( A spokesperson for the Secretary of State ’ s office told Mother Jones they do provide county election offices “ with templates regarding continuity of operations , incident response , etc.
” ) Local officials are also permitted to close polling locations at their discretion , but need a court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at any given location .
If disaster strikes before Election Day , the Secretary of State ’ s guidance explains that “ [ a ] dding additional hours is usually not necessary since the early voting period allows a large window for voting.
” The Texas Secretary of State also has a FAQs page specifically for evacuees who want to vote , but most of the guidance is to assist voters with registering in new home counties or applying for absentee ballots .
Texas voters who lose important documents in disasters are allowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have to cast a provisional ballot that only counts if a natural disaster affidavit is submitted shortly after the election .
The website reassures voters , “ Even during this difficult time , it is still the voter ’ s responsibility to make certain decisions as to what he or she considers home in time to vote , and to file the necessary paperwork .
As to your ballot being counted , Texas counties count ballots mailed to them from applicants from all over the world.
” In the aftermath of Hurricane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas in nearly a hundred years , the NAACP ’ s Legal Defense Fund sent multiple letters to the Secretary of State , warning that strict voter ID requirements combined with the disproportionate impact of the disaster on low-income communities of color would further disenfranchise an already vulnerable group of people ahead of the November 2017 statewide elections .
Even the natural disaster affidavit process , which was meant to address that problem , was insufficient , they said .
“ It is unrealistic to expect a vulnerable population of displaced victims of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or before Election Day , and then later return to the Registrar ’ s office to execute an affidavit , ” the NAACP wrote .
“ This two-step process will effectively deny victims of natural disaster their right to vote .
But despite provisions that allow for postponing Election Day , the Constitution is far less lenient with Inauguration Day and a handful of other election deadlines between early November and January 20 .
On December 14 , each state ’ s electors get together to officially cast their votes for President , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all votes aren ’ t submitted on the same day .
“ One of the giant black holes of the Constitution is what happens if a state doesn ’ t wind up finishing their vote count for a month and a half ?
” Morley says .
Disaster recovery is a long , drawn out process , but elections aren ’ t supposed to be .
Although the Constitution allows for the popular vote to be postponed if necessary , it doesn ’ t say anything about the Electoral College ’ s contingency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solution to the worst case scenario : A state so damaged that it ’ s incapable of conducting a legitimate election on the timeline set by a national election .
Whether the electoral college would wait for a state with an interrupted election to submit its delegates , or even count them at all , isn ’ t clear .
“ There ’ s no plan for a postponement , ” Ornstein , AEI ’ s resident scholar , said .
“ None of these are easy issues to answer.
” According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disruptions is they ’ ve never been destructive enough to force change .
“ We don ’ t tend to do things in a government that doesn ’ t act easily to begin with , unless and until there ’ s a crisis , ” Ornstein , who ’ s been raising the alarm on constitutional crises that could come out of this election , said .
“ If it passes and there aren ’ t consequences , it ’ s easy to let it go.
” Sometimes , lightening needs to strike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instances in which presidents were assassinated without an adequate plan in place for succession , ” Ornstein said .
Even then , “ It took two presidential assassinations to get a change in the Presidential Succession Act .
”

In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the approaching hurricane season, which runs from June through November, would be “above-normal.” By late September, the season had already seen twice the number of named storms of a comparable period. Hurricane Laura, the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana since 1856, was responsible for about $10 billion in damage.
With less than a week before Election Day Hurricane Zeta, a category two storm, left over 2 million people without power in the South and at least six people dead after making landfall in Mississippi and eastern Louisiana. Meanwhile, residents in the West have fled wildfires that have engulfed millions of acres across Colorado, Utah, California, Washington, and Oregon, and states across the South are still picking up the pieces left by storms from earlier this year. By one estimate, more than a million Americans are displaced by natural disasters each year.
Against this backdrop, the most tumultuous presidential campaign season in modern history will culminate on November 3, a date that cannot be changed no matter how extreme the weather might be. As a result, states in potentially hard-hit areas have made extra efforts to insure votes can be submitted in a timely fashion. But what happens if portions of a state can’t participate in a national election due to an unforeseen natural disaster?
“You could have a redo, basically, on a subsequent day,” says Michael Morley, a law professor at Florida State University who has written extensively about Election Day emergencies. Federal law mandates that all presidential and congressional elections happen on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but allows states to postpone Election Day if necessary. “During the congressional debates that led up to the Presidential Election Day statute, one of the reasons for this provision was that somebody from Virginia said that they get a lot of flooding, and that people have trouble getting to the polls. Sometimes they’re not able to complete their elections. Natural disasters were one of the main things that the enacting Congress had in mind when they adopted this law.”
When Hurricane Sandy pummeled the East coast a week before the 2012 election, displaced New Jersey residents scrambled to vote by email and fax, overwhelming the county clerks charged with transmitting their votes. Meanwhile, in New York City, in-person voters faced long lines and ballot shortages. Four years later, Hurricane Matthew walloped North Carolina’s coast, and the state Democratic party successfully sued the state to extend the voter registration deadline for affected residents. Still, voter turnout dropped slightly in counties hardest hit by the storm.
One of the nation’s most devastating storms was Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in August 2005, killing nearly 2,000 people and causing $40 billion in damage. Municipal elections, including for mayor, scheduled five months after the storm had to be postponed an additional two months. “If Hurricane Katrina were to hit on Presidential Election Day, or the day before Presidential Election Day, it would be extraordinarily unlikely, I think, for the people in New Orleans, to be able to vote at a later point,” Morley says.
That’s a huge problem. Whether or not Louisiana would be counted in the electoral college without submitting its votes isn’t clear. “We don’t know what would happen if, for example, you had Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida unable to vote on Election Day,” says Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank. “Do you postpone the whole election, which would require a change in the law? The idea that you’d have a do-over in a region of the country after knowing how everyone else had voted is fraught with peril.”
How prepared states are to handle an extreme event—whether a hurricane, earthquake, or a wildfire—on the eve of an election requires looking at what provisions are already in place, and how they’ve been used in the past. In the last two decades, multiple elections have been disrupted, but never thwarted. Still, even if a natural disaster doesn’t postpone the election, it could further complicate an already murky situation in states like Texas and Florida, where victory margins promise to be razor thin.
“Hurricanes, unlike efforts by some of our elected officials, are indiscriminate in whom they target,” says Daniel Smith, chair of the University of Florida’s department of political science. “The question is how well will local elections officials be able to respond—and to whom they will be responding—in those damaged communities.”
“Hurricanes, unlike efforts by some of our elected officials, are indiscriminate in whom they target.”
Most state governments have an array of tools to expand election access during a natural disaster. The governor, via the secretary of state, can extend deadlines for early voting and mail-in ballots, allow ballots to be forwarded to temporary addresses, permit local election officials to add new voting and polling places, or even postpone an election altogether.
In California, for instance, residents displaced by fires are not permitted to have their ballots forwarded to a new or temporary address, but they can re-register before or even on Election Day using a new address. In Santa Cruz, where the CZU Lightning Complex fire burned more than 86,000 acres in August and September, the county clerk’s office hosted biweekly Zoom meetings to keep displaced voters abreast of their voting options. They’ve also dispatched a “mobile voting unit” to shelters and other parts of the county to allow wildfire victims to register, vote, and request replacement ballots.
The Shasta County Registrar of Voters has said they plan to reach out to voters affected by the Zogg Fire—which destroyed more than 200 structures in late September and early October—who haven’t yet cast their ballots.
“Probably a week before the election, we are also going to go through our voter history file,” the registrar told the Sacramento NPR-affiliate CapRadio. “We probably will just do phone calls at that point to try and find folks and make sure they know what their options are.”
To the east, Colorado is in the midst of the largest wildfire season in its history, with firefighters battling East Troublesome, the second-largest blaze on record. After the fire incinerated an “unheard of” 100,000 acres in one day in October, a local sheriff called the spread, “the worst of the worst of the worst.” That could make voting difficult for the several thousand residents who quickly evacuated, especially if they’ve left ballots behind. Perhaps unsurprisingly, “[voting] may not be the highest on their priority list quite yet,” Angela Myers, county clerk in Larimer County where East Troublesome is burning, told the Colorado Sun earlier this week.
But in some ways, Colorado was already prepared. In 2013, the state overhauled its election system. As a result, voters automatically receive mail-in ballots, which they can submit at voter service and polling centers (VSPC) across the state—even outside the jurisdiction in which they’re registered. For registered votes who had to evacuate and left their ballots behind, VSPC also distributed replacement ballots. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office also activated its electronic ballot delivery system for evacuees and firefighters, which allows them to print an emergency ballot and envelope.
Early voting has made a difference, in spite of still-burning wildfires. Colorado announced that it had already received two million ballots, nearly half of the number that were received by this time in the 2016 election. Almost 130,000 of those votes are from flame-ravaged Larimer County, only 50,000 short of the 2016 voting total. “All of those features were always good for voters,” said Amanda Gonzalez, the executive director of Colorado Common Cause, to the Colorado Sun, “[They] are particularly good for voters now.”
“Hurricane season is generally during voting season,” Hillsborough County, Florida, Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer says. When Hurricane Andrew, a category five storm inundated the state in 1992, Latimer remembers contingency efforts used to bolster voting access. “I was with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and I took folks down on a mutual aid response to Miami. We had this fabulous navy mess tent, and on the third day it was off limits—it became a voting site.” Asked if he was concerned about getting Florida’s electoral tallies in on time in the event of a hurricane, Latimer replies, “Hypothetically, no.”
In the run up to this year’s election, he says the Florida Supervisors of Elections have run “tabletop exercises.” But hurricane damage can be difficult to predict, and storms “are pretty specific in where they hit, they don’t hit the whole state.” Extra resources for voting in the aftermath of disaster are deployed at a local level, but, Latimer says, “It’s the state calling the shots.” Smith, from the University of Florida puts it this way: “I don’t really think it matters ultimately what’s in that tool box, because it’s the governor who’s going to determine whether to open it or not.”
“I don’t really think it matters ultimately what’s in that tool box, because it’s the governor who’s going to determine whether to open it or not.”
The state’s current governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, hasn’t been keen to expand voting access, one need only look at his efforts to prohibit convicted felons from voting, despite a 2018 statewide ballot where Floridians voted to end the state’s longstanding ban. “My fear is that political calculations might rule the day, rather than making sure that all voters have an opportunity to exercise their vote in the eyes of a storm,” Smith says.
In October, 2018, Hurricane Michael slammed into Florida, causing $25 billion in damage and throwing state elections into disarray. Within days, secretary of state Ken Detzner announced orders to expand early voting and gave local election officials permission to add voting sites. Notably, Detzner only extended voter registration by a single day in counties where election offices were closed by the storm. In Bay County, the local supervisor of elections opened controversial “mega-voting sites” that the local NAACP chapter said were geographically inaccessible to the Black community.
Even small disruptions, or ones that are limited to a specific location, could have huge implications if they happened during a national election. The 2000, the presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore was decided by a margin of fewer than 600 votes.
In 2020, things are even more complicated. With the pandemic, Smith estimates that half of the state’s10 million votes this year are being cast early or by mail. By Election Day, many more voters will have cast their ballot than usual. A hurricane might disrupt more mail-in votes if it strikes before November 3, but a voting day storm would be less of a threat. “The more people take advantage of things like early voting, in-person absentee voting, absentee voting, the more opportunity there is to mitigate, or at least lessen the impact of a cataclysmic event like Katrina on Election Day, or, the day or two before Election Day,” Morley explains.
Florida may have an array of election disaster tools, but Texas has an actual manual. The state’s plan for election-day natural disasters is summed up in three words that appear four times in their manual: “Voting Must Continue!” The Texas Secretary of State’s election disaster planning guidance, says that in cases where elections offices or polling stations lose power, or are inaccessible due to floods or structural damage, the state recommends election officials have back-up generators or batteries on hand. If all else fails, they tell officials to relocate affected polling locations.
There’s no official procedure for relocating polling stations laid out in Texas’ election code, so the logistics are left to local officials. (A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office told Mother Jones they do provide county election offices “with templates regarding continuity of operations, incident response, etc.”) Local officials are also permitted to close polling locations at their discretion, but need a court order in order to extend voting hours at any given location. If disaster strikes before Election Day, the Secretary of State’s guidance explains that “[a]dding additional hours is usually not necessary since the early voting period allows a large window for voting.”
“Even during this difficult time, it is still the voter’s responsibility to make certain decisions as to what he or she considers home in time to vote, and to file the necessary paperwork.”
The Texas Secretary of State also has a FAQs page specifically for evacuees who want to vote, but most of the guidance is to assist voters with registering in new home counties or applying for absentee ballots. Texas voters who lose important documents in disasters are allowed to waive voter ID requirements, but they have to cast a provisional ballot that only counts if a natural disaster affidavit is submitted shortly after the election. The website reassures voters, “Even during this difficult time, it is still the voter’s responsibility to make certain decisions as to what he or she considers home in time to vote, and to file the necessary paperwork. As to your ballot being counted, Texas counties count ballots mailed to them from applicants from all over the world.”
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the deadliest storm to hit Texas in nearly a hundred years, the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund sent multiple letters to the Secretary of State, warning that strict voter ID requirements combined with the disproportionate impact of the disaster on low-income communities of color would further disenfranchise an already vulnerable group of people ahead of the November 2017 statewide elections. Even the natural disaster affidavit process, which was meant to address that problem, was insufficient, they said.
“It is unrealistic to expect a vulnerable population of displaced victims of the hurricane to travel to vote on or before Election Day, and then later return to the Registrar’s office to execute an affidavit,” the NAACP wrote. “This two-step process will effectively deny victims of natural disaster their right to vote.
But despite provisions that allow for postponing Election Day, the Constitution is far less lenient with Inauguration Day and a handful of other election deadlines between early November and January 20. On December 14, each state’s electors get together to officially cast their votes for President, and it could be considered unconstitutional if all votes aren’t submitted on the same day.
“One of the giant black holes of the Constitution is what happens if a state doesn’t wind up finishing their vote count for a month and a half?” Morley says.
Disaster recovery is a long, drawn out process, but elections aren’t supposed to be. Although the Constitution allows for the popular vote to be postponed if necessary, it doesn’t say anything about the Electoral College’s contingency plans. There’s no clear solution to the worst case scenario: A state so damaged that it’s incapable of conducting a legitimate election on the timeline set by a national election. Whether the electoral college would wait for a state with an interrupted election to submit its delegates, or even count them at all, isn’t clear. “There’s no plan for a postponement,” Ornstein, AEI’s resident scholar, said. “None of these are easy issues to answer.”
According to Ornstein, the problem with past election disruptions is they’ve never been destructive enough to force change. “We don’t tend to do things in a government that doesn’t act easily to begin with, unless and until there’s a crisis,” Ornstein, who’s been raising the alarm on constitutional crises that could come out of this election, said. “If it passes and there aren’t consequences, it’s easy to let it go.”
Sometimes, lightening needs to strike twice. “We’ve had instances in which presidents were assassinated without an adequate plan in place for succession,” Ornstein said. Even then, “It took two presidential assassinations to get a change in the Presidential Succession Act.”


motherjones--2020-11-02--Will Oregon Be the First State to Legalize Access to Magic Mushrooms?

Oregon ’ s push to legalize psychedelic-assisted therapy began , as bold ideas often do , in the woods .
It was 2015 , and Portland-based therapists Tom and Sheri Eckert had taken a trip to Mount Rainier , about 50 miles southeast of Seattle , to ponder the idea of creating a program for adults to legally access the power of magic mushrooms .
The couple had just read Michael Pollan ’ s seminal New Yorker article , “ The Trip Treatment , ” which highlighted “ stories of transformation , ” as Sheri puts it , of patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health conditions .
Specifically , Pollan highlighted the power of psilocybin , a psychoactive compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms .
After reading it , “ we got really inspired , ” Sheri tells me over email , “ but also apprehensive ” ; the idea of a statewide ballot initiative brought with it “ a heavy sense of responsibility.
” “ We decided to get out in nature and think more about it , ” Tom tells me , also over email .
“ That night , over a campfire , we really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devote the next five years of their lives to crafting and campaigning for a ballot measure that would bring psilocybin to “ anyone who can safely benefit , ” Sheri says , “ while retaining the kind of practice standards that make the research so successful.
” They saw this as filling a particularly critical demand in their home state , where about one in four adults experience mental illness , one of the worst rates in the country .
“ We saw the need , ” Tom says .
“ Beyond a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of dollars in missed work , disability , and mental health care costs .
The pharma-driven status quo isn ’ t working ; we need new therapeutic options.
” This week , the result of their work will appear before Oregon voters as Measure 109 , or the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act .
If it passes , Oregon will become the first state to formally legalize access to magic mushroom products .
Although it is radical , Measure 109 isn ’ t totally unprecedented .
Decriminalizing psychedelics , or legalizing them in certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mainstream idea since the release of Pollan ’ s article and his subsequent best-selling 2018 book , How to Change Your Mind , amid a recent surge in research on the possible benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy .
And , the movement follows a decades-long push to legalize marijuana , which activists say helped open the door for psychedelics .
“ I think cannabis really cleared the way in large part , ” says David Bronner , the Cosmic Engagement Officer ( aka CEO ) of Dr. Bronner ’ s Magic Soaps , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 109 , as well as cannabis policy reform .
As a result , psilocybin has been at the center of a movement at the city and local level over the past few years .
In 2019 , Denver became the first city to decriminalize psilocybin , followed by Oakland , Santa Cruz , and Ann Arbor .
And this week , voters in DC will weigh a ballot measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants , while Oregon voters will also consider Measure 110 , which would decriminalize psilocybin , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , heroin , methamphetamine , and ramp up drug addiction treatment options .
But what sets Measure 109 apart from those decriminalization efforts is that it offers a legal pathway , specifically to psilocybin therapy .
That is , rather than blocking penalties for possessing psychedelic products , it would establish a state-regulated program for using and obtaining them .
In essence , accessing psilocybin as an adult in Oregon would be about as easy as signing up for counseling .
“ This is something that is long overdue , ” says Rep. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ represents much of Portland , in reference to Measures 109 and 110 .
“ The two of them together , getting rid of a law enforcement approach to controlled substances—it ’ s still not legal to traffic , we still want to protect our kids , all of that—but it is decidedly a more thoughtful , more effective , and more humane approach.
” But unlike Measure 110 , which has at least some formal opposition , there are , somewhat surprisingly , no campaigns registered against Measure 109 .
Even without organized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected to be close , and their biggest challenge is almost certainly reaching voters during a global pandemic .
If all goes as hoped , supporters see Measure 109 serving as a legal psilocybin model for the rest of the country .
The model just has to be proven first .
After all , as Blumenauer points out , it was Oregon that was the first state to decriminalize cannabis nearly 50 years ago : “ I just see this as a logical evolution of what we ’ ve tried to do here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more thoughtful , have a broader and more inclusive conversation , that we ’ re committed to research and learning together .
And I think this ballot measure does precisely that.
” When I asked Tom Eckert how he would describe the experience of taking psilocybin , he said , “ Verbal descriptions are pretty futile .
It ’ s a profound experience that disrupts your usual way of thinking , feeling , and perceiving , including those loops and patterns that get you feeling stuck .
There is also a ground-shifting sense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to the research , correlates highly with positive therapeutic outcomes.
” Psychedelic-assisted therapy is a budding but promising area of research .
Psilocybin in particular was designated as a “ breakthrough therapy ” by the Food and Drug Administration for its potential to treat treatment-resistant depression in 2018 and major depressive disorder the year after .
This designation is typically granted to drug companies to help expedite the development of a drug when early research indicates “ that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapies , ” according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies on psilocybin is from 2016 .
Led by researchers from NYU School of Medicine , it focused on 29 cancer patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression who were given a single dose of either psilocybin or a placebo .
Both groups also received counseling .
After seven weeks , the groups switched treatments .
The results were stunning : After just one dose of psilocybin , researchers saw an immediate reduction in depression and anxiety , as well as “ decreases in cancer-related demoralization and hopelessness , improved spiritual wellbeing , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ researchers checked back in with the patients after about six months , most were still experiencing the positive effects .
At the time , lead author Dr. Stephen Ross called the results , which were published alongside a similar study from Johns Hopkins University , “ the strongest evidence to date of a clinical benefit from psilocybin therapy.
” “ People who had been palpably scared of death—they lost their fear , ” Ross told Pollan , who included details of the study in his New Yorker piece .
“ The fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an effect for so long is an unprecedented finding .
We have never had anything like it in the psychiatric field.
” Supporters of Measure 109 hope to bring those same possible benefits to Oregonians .
Under the proposal , Oregon would have two years to develop a program to allow adults over 21 to receive the psychedelic drug at licensed “ psilocybin service centers , ” under the supervision of a “ psilocybin service facilitator.
” The state would also be tasked with determining how to license and regulate the program , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ve had experience with people very close to me contending with their end of life , ” says Blumenauer , who first heard about psilocybin-assisted therapy a few years ago from Pollan , who he says is a friend of his .
“ And I truly believe having the tools available to help people manage it , keep their perspective , is important .
And this looks to me like an additional potential tool that could have significant benefits.
” One of the biggest remaining questions , though , is just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the proposal stipulates the drug be used in a controlled setting .
According to Sam Chapman , Yes on 109 ’ s campaign manager , the measure was crafted specifically to exist in a “ therapeutic context , ” something of a middle ground that , from his perspective , maximizes the number of patients in need who can access psilocybin—in a safe way .
Some of the people who may benefit from this drug , he argues , may not be able to get it in a system where it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t ever envision a terminally ill cancer patient going out to some cow pasture and picking mushrooms and feeling like that is an adequate way to access psilocybin , ” he says .
“ There needs to be regulations and controls and certifications and training and protection for people that would otherwise not ever consider psilocybin therapy.
” Still , this doesn ’ t explicitly address issues of access and racial equity .
While psychedelics have a long history in Native American culture , many of the most vocal and visible supporters of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to worries that Indigenous people have been left out of the legalization conversation .
“ One phrase that comes to mind is , ‘ nothing about us without us , ' ” says Ifetayo Harvey , a marketing coordinator at Drug Policy Alliance and founder of the People of Color Psychedelic Collective , a New York-based group “ working towards a collective healing and justice through knowledge and expertise of psychedelics.
” “ Specifically around ballot measures , ” she adds , “ I do not think that they should be doing legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that charge .
Because to me , that is just the replication of colonialism in a lot of ways.
” To create a psilocybin program with equitable access for all people of color , Harvey says Oregon could consider who is facilitating these psychedelic experiences and “ really vet ” them .
“ A lot of harm can come from traumatic psychedelic experiences , so I think that ’ s one thing—having a diverse set of [ facilitators ] , ” Harvey says .
“ As a Black person who ’ s been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ve always had a POC therapist .
And so I think that ’ s something that needs to be addressed in this situation.
” It also has to be affordable , she says , perhaps even employing a sliding pay scale , and include education efforts specifically tailored to communities of color .
Chapman says the campaign has already been doing work on this front , though a lot more will have to come if Measure 109 passes .
According to Chapman , the campaign assembled a Healthcare Equity Committee comprised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is tasked with determining “ what equitable access to psilocybin therapy needs to look like.
” The committee , he says , will remain intact after the election and will begin reaching out to regulators on “ day zero.
” “ I think we ’ ve learned a lot of lessons from other movements and industries , ” says Chapman , who has a background in helping craft equitable cannabis policy .
The campaign needs “ to ensure that those who have been disproportionately affected by the racist , classist , sexist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to participate in this program.
” The limited opposition Measure 109 does face is mainly from medical organizations , which worry the measure is getting ahead of the science .
Psilocybin , opponents point out , remains a Schedule I drug and is not FDA-approved to treat any illness .
As the Oregon Medical Association , which opposes Measure 109 , told me in a statement , the FDA ’ s “ breakthrough therapy ” status simply means “ the drug is in the early stages of development and that scientific studies do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe and effective medical treatment.
” The American Psychiatric Association and the Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association ( a district branch of the APA ) also oppose the measure .
The state ’ s largest newspaper , the Oregonian , issued an op-ed earlier this month urging voters to “ follow [ OPPA ’ s ] advice and vote ‘ no ' ” on Measure 109 .
“ As eager as Oregonians may be for a promising therapy for mental health ailments , ” the editorial board wrote , “ they should let the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s also concern that Measure 109 operates in a medical gray space : It ’ s not a hands-off decriminalization approach , and it ’ s not like many medical marijuana laws in the US , which legalized cannabis for strictly medical purposes .
As Dr. Jonathan Betlinski , one of the past presidents of the OPPA who now serves on its executive committee , points out , if Measure 109 passes , adults wouldn ’ t need a prescription to take psilocybin or need to be diagnosed with a mental health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we treating ?
” he asks .
“ If we ’ re going to call this a medical treatment , then just like a vaccine , or a treatment for cancer , or high blood pressure , or diabetes , or any of these other medical conditions , we must stick with the tradition of using rigorous and validated [ research ] to help be able to form a treatment.
” ( OPPA has no official stance on Measure 110 , Oregon ’ s drug decriminalization bill . )
The Yes on 109 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this criticism by fighting doctors with , well , doctors .
After the OPPA issued its statement opposing the measure , the campaign released a television ad featuring state Senator and medical doctor Elizabeth Steiner Hayward , who underscores that psilocybin is a “ promising approach ” for treating depression and anxiety and that Measure 109 “ promotes safety for a therapy that can help people who are suffering.
” Still , the campaign ’ s most effective enemy hasn ’ t been doctors ’ associations ; it ’ s been the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when the pandemic hit , the psilocybin campaign was still collecting signatures for its petition to get on the ballot .
“ We definitely felt challenged , ” Sheri Eckert says .
“ Though we had gathered about 100,000 signatures already , we still had about 50,000 to go.
” The campaign went from door-knocking to virtual .
They held webinars .
They mailed petitions to people ’ s homes .
And they relied on grassroots organizing to encourage people to download , print , and mail their own signature sheets .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of Oregonians sent their petitions supporting the ballot measure in by mail .
In early July , Measure 109 officially qualified for the ballot .
Whether Measure 109 will succeed , Chapman says , comes down to reaching enough voters .
Chapman notes the “ vast majority ” of people that the campaign hasn ’ t contacted likely haven ’ t heard of psilocybin therapy—and unsure voters are probably “ no ” voters .
While there isn ’ t any recent public polling on Measure 109 , Chapman says internal polling by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ informed about what Measure 109 is—and isn ’ t—a majority will support it .
During a pandemic , one way to reach voters , it turns out , is through soap .
As I wrote in June , Dr. Bronner ’ s advertised Oregon ’ s psilocybin campaign with social media and marketing efforts—including a limited-edition soap label in support of the initiative .
Its primary contribution , though , has been financial support .
To date , Dr. Bronner ’ s has donated “ north of $ 2 million , ” according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the campaign ’ s total donations .
“ Where other funders were a bit more challenged by the current circumstance , we were in a position to step up that much more.
” ( Dr. Bronner ’ s also donated to Oregon ’ s Measure 110 , DC ’ s decriminalization measure , and various cannabis campaigns across the country ; if these measures pass , “ and we get a new president , ” Bronner says , “ I will be celebrating like you won ’ t believe.
” ) Beyond Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yes on 109 campaign has put out television and digital ads , billboards , op-eds in local newspapers ; sought editorial board endorsements ( which they received from the Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury ) ; and harnessed the power of “ relational organizing , ” a strategy of cultivating voters from supporters ’ own contacts—friends , family , coworkers , and so on .
“ People are much more likely to take a phone call from someone they know than from someone they don ’ t , ” Chapman explains .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fascinating piece on relational organizing and how it could help Democrats defeat Trump in 2o20 . )
Sheri Eckert says she is “ nervous and hopeful ” ahead of the election : “ It ’ s going to be close.
” But she ’ s also in awe of how far they ’ ve come .
If it passes , Measure 109 will certainly add momentum to the broader psilocybin movement .
But even just getting on the ballot is a feat in and of itself for drug policy reformers .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re definitely at the cultural inflection point in integrating psychedelic medicine .
And we ’ re seeing it happen here in Oregon .
”

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Oregon’s push to legalize psychedelic-assisted therapy began, as bold ideas often do, in the woods.
It was 2015, and Portland-based therapists Tom and Sheri Eckert had taken a trip to Mount Rainier, about 50 miles southeast of Seattle, to ponder the idea of creating a program for adults to legally access the power of magic mushrooms. The couple had just read Michael Pollan’s seminal New Yorker article, “The Trip Treatment,” which highlighted “stories of transformation,” as Sheri puts it, of patients who used psychedelics to treat various mental health conditions. Specifically, Pollan highlighted the power of psilocybin, a psychoactive compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. After reading it, “we got really inspired,” Sheri tells me over email, “but also apprehensive”; the idea of a statewide ballot initiative brought with it “a heavy sense of responsibility.”
“Beyond a terrible human toll, Oregon loses billions of dollars in missed work, disability, and mental health care costs. The pharma-driven status quo isn’t working; we need new therapeutic options.”
“We decided to get out in nature and think more about it,” Tom tells me, also over email. “That night, over a campfire, we really talked it through.” They decided to devote the next five years of their lives to crafting and campaigning for a ballot measure that would bring psilocybin to “anyone who can safely benefit,” Sheri says, “while retaining the kind of practice standards that make the research so successful.”
They saw this as filling a particularly critical demand in their home state, where about one in four adults experience mental illness, one of the worst rates in the country. “We saw the need,” Tom says. “Beyond a terrible human toll, Oregon loses billions of dollars in missed work, disability, and mental health care costs. The pharma-driven status quo isn’t working; we need new therapeutic options.”
This week, the result of their work will appear before Oregon voters as Measure 109, or the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act. If it passes, Oregon will become the first state to formally legalize access to magic mushroom products.
Although it is radical, Measure 109 isn’t totally unprecedented. Decriminalizing psychedelics, or legalizing them in certain settings, has become more of a mainstream idea since the release of Pollan’s article and his subsequent best-selling 2018 book, How to Change Your Mind, amid a recent surge in research on the possible benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy. And, the movement follows a decades-long push to legalize marijuana, which activists say helped open the door for psychedelics. “I think cannabis really cleared the way in large part,” says David Bronner, the Cosmic Engagement Officer (aka CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, which has been a major supporter of Measure 109, as well as cannabis policy reform.
As a result, psilocybin has been at the center of a movement at the city and local level over the past few years. In 2019, Denver became the first city to decriminalize psilocybin, followed by Oakland, Santa Cruz, and Ann Arbor. And this week, voters in DC will weigh a ballot measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants, while Oregon voters will also consider Measure 110, which would decriminalize psilocybin, as well as many other drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ramp up drug addiction treatment options.
But what sets Measure 109 apart from those decriminalization efforts is that it offers a legal pathway, specifically to psilocybin therapy. That is, rather than blocking penalties for possessing psychedelic products, it would establish a state-regulated program for using and obtaining them. In essence, accessing psilocybin as an adult in Oregon would be about as easy as signing up for counseling.
“This is something that is long overdue,” says Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who represents much of Portland, in reference to Measures 109 and 110. “The two of them together, getting rid of a law enforcement approach to controlled substances—it’s still not legal to traffic, we still want to protect our kids, all of that—but it is decidedly a more thoughtful, more effective, and more humane approach.”
But unlike Measure 110, which has at least some formal opposition, there are, somewhat surprisingly, no campaigns registered against Measure 109. Even without organized pushback, organizers say the vote is expected to be close, and their biggest challenge is almost certainly reaching voters during a global pandemic. If all goes as hoped, supporters see Measure 109 serving as a legal psilocybin model for the rest of the country. The model just has to be proven first.
“I think cannabis really cleared the way in large part.”
After all, as Blumenauer points out, it was Oregon that was the first state to decriminalize cannabis nearly 50 years ago: “I just see this as a logical evolution of what we’ve tried to do here in Oregon, to be a little more thoughtful, have a broader and more inclusive conversation, that we’re committed to research and learning together. And I think this ballot measure does precisely that.”
When I asked Tom Eckert how he would describe the experience of taking psilocybin, he said, “Verbal descriptions are pretty futile. It’s a profound experience that disrupts your usual way of thinking, feeling, and perceiving, including those loops and patterns that get you feeling stuck. There is also a ground-shifting sense of connection, the intensity of which, according to the research, correlates highly with positive therapeutic outcomes.”
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is a budding but promising area of research. Psilocybin in particular was designated as a “breakthrough therapy” by the Food and Drug Administration for its potential to treat treatment-resistant depression in 2018 and major depressive disorder the year after. This designation is typically granted to drug companies to help expedite the development of a drug when early research indicates “that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapies,” according to the FDA.
Among the most influential studies on psilocybin is from 2016. Led by researchers from NYU School of Medicine, it focused on 29 cancer patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression who were given a single dose of either psilocybin or a placebo. Both groups also received counseling. After seven weeks, the groups switched treatments. The results were stunning: After just one dose of psilocybin, researchers saw an immediate reduction in depression and anxiety, as well as “decreases in cancer-related demoralization and hopelessness, improved spiritual wellbeing, and increased quality of life.” When the researchers checked back in with the patients after about six months, most were still experiencing the positive effects. At the time, lead author Dr. Stephen Ross called the results, which were published alongside a similar study from Johns Hopkins University, “the strongest evidence to date of a clinical benefit from psilocybin therapy.”
“People who had been palpably scared of death—they lost their fear,” Ross told Pollan, who included details of the study in his New Yorker piece. “The fact that a drug given once can have such an effect for so long is an unprecedented finding. We have never had anything like it in the psychiatric field.”
Supporters of Measure 109 hope to bring those same possible benefits to Oregonians. Under the proposal, Oregon would have two years to develop a program to allow adults over 21 to receive the psychedelic drug at licensed “psilocybin service centers,” under the supervision of a “psilocybin service facilitator.” The state would also be tasked with determining how to license and regulate the program, including the manufacture of psilocybin.
“I’ve had experience with people very close to me contending with their end of life,” says Blumenauer, who first heard about psilocybin-assisted therapy a few years ago from Pollan, who he says is a friend of his. “And I truly believe having the tools available to help people manage it, keep their perspective, is important. And this looks to me like an additional potential tool that could have significant benefits.”
“Verbal descriptions are pretty futile. It’s a profound experience that disrupts your usual way of thinking, feeling, and perceiving, including those loops and patterns that get you feeling stuck.”
One of the biggest remaining questions, though, is just who Measure 109 would benefit, especially as the proposal stipulates the drug be used in a controlled setting. According to Sam Chapman, Yes on 109’s campaign manager, the measure was crafted specifically to exist in a “therapeutic context,” something of a middle ground that, from his perspective, maximizes the number of patients in need who can access psilocybin—in a safe way. Some of the people who may benefit from this drug, he argues, may not be able to get it in a system where it is only decriminalized. “I don’t ever envision a terminally ill cancer patient going out to some cow pasture and picking mushrooms and feeling like that is an adequate way to access psilocybin,” he says. “There needs to be regulations and controls and certifications and training and protection for people that would otherwise not ever consider psilocybin therapy.”
Still, this doesn’t explicitly address issues of access and racial equity. While psychedelics have a long history in Native American culture, many of the most vocal and visible supporters of psychedelic-based therapy have been white, leading to worries that Indigenous people have been left out of the legalization conversation. “One phrase that comes to mind is, ‘nothing about us without us,'” says Ifetayo Harvey, a marketing coordinator at Drug Policy Alliance and founder of the People of Color Psychedelic Collective, a New York-based group “working towards a collective healing and justice through knowledge and expertise of psychedelics.”
“Specifically around ballot measures,” she adds, “I do not think that they should be doing legislation around Indigenous medicine without Indigenous people leading that charge. Because to me, that is just the replication of colonialism in a lot of ways.”
To create a psilocybin program with equitable access for all people of color, Harvey says Oregon could consider who is facilitating these psychedelic experiences and “really vet” them. “A lot of harm can come from traumatic psychedelic experiences, so I think that’s one thing—having a diverse set of [facilitators],” Harvey says. “As a Black person who’s been going to therapy for 10 years, I’ve always had a POC therapist. And so I think that’s something that needs to be addressed in this situation.” It also has to be affordable, she says, perhaps even employing a sliding pay scale, and include education efforts specifically tailored to communities of color.
Chapman says the campaign has already been doing work on this front, though a lot more will have to come if Measure 109 passes. According to Chapman, the campaign assembled a Healthcare Equity Committee comprised of BIPOC leaders in Oregon and nationally that is tasked with determining “what equitable access to psilocybin therapy needs to look like.” The committee, he says, will remain intact after the election and will begin reaching out to regulators on “day zero.”
“A lot of harm can come from traumatic psychedelic experiences, so I think that’s one thing—having a diverse set of [facilitators].”
“I think we’ve learned a lot of lessons from other movements and industries,” says Chapman, who has a background in helping craft equitable cannabis policy. The campaign needs “to ensure that those who have been disproportionately affected by the racist, classist, sexist war on drugs have a real opportunity to participate in this program.”
The limited opposition Measure 109 does face is mainly from medical organizations, which worry the measure is getting ahead of the science. Psilocybin, opponents point out, remains a Schedule I drug and is not FDA-approved to treat any illness. As the Oregon Medical Association, which opposes Measure 109, told me in a statement, the FDA’s “breakthrough therapy” status simply means “the drug is in the early stages of development and that scientific studies do not yet indicate that it is a safe and effective medical treatment.” The American Psychiatric Association and the Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association (a district branch of the APA) also oppose the measure. The state’s largest newspaper, the Oregonian, issued an op-ed earlier this month urging voters to “follow [OPPA’s] advice and vote ‘no'” on Measure 109. “As eager as Oregonians may be for a promising therapy for mental health ailments,” the editorial board wrote, “they should let the FDA process play out first.”
There’s also concern that Measure 109 operates in a medical gray space: It’s not a hands-off decriminalization approach, and it’s not like many medical marijuana laws in the US, which legalized cannabis for strictly medical purposes. As Dr. Jonathan Betlinski, one of the past presidents of the OPPA who now serves on its executive committee, points out, if Measure 109 passes, adults wouldn’t need a prescription to take psilocybin or need to be diagnosed with a mental health condition first. “So what are we treating?” he asks. “If we’re going to call this a medical treatment, then just like a vaccine, or a treatment for cancer, or high blood pressure, or diabetes, or any of these other medical conditions, we must stick with the tradition of using rigorous and validated [research] to help be able to form a treatment.” (OPPA has no official stance on Measure 110, Oregon’s drug decriminalization bill.)
The Yes on 109 campaign has tried to push back on this criticism by fighting doctors with, well, doctors. After the OPPA issued its statement opposing the measure, the campaign released a television ad featuring state Senator and medical doctor Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, who underscores that psilocybin is a “promising approach” for treating depression and anxiety and that Measure 109 “promotes safety for a therapy that can help people who are suffering.”
Still, the campaign’s most effective enemy hasn’t been doctors’ associations; it’s been the coronavirus. At the beginning of 2020, when the pandemic hit, the psilocybin campaign was still collecting signatures for its petition to get on the ballot. “We definitely felt challenged,” Sheri Eckert says. “Though we had gathered about 100,000 signatures already, we still had about 50,000 to go.” The campaign went from door-knocking to virtual. They held webinars. They mailed petitions to people’s homes. And they relied on grassroots organizing to encourage people to download, print, and mail their own signature sheets. And eventually, they prevailed: Tens of thousands of Oregonians sent their petitions supporting the ballot measure in by mail. In early July, Measure 109 officially qualified for the ballot.
Whether Measure 109 will succeed, Chapman says, comes down to reaching enough voters. Chapman notes the “vast majority” of people that the campaign hasn’t contacted likely haven’t heard of psilocybin therapy—and unsure voters are probably “no” voters. While there isn’t any recent public polling on Measure 109, Chapman says internal polling by the campaign shows that when voters are informed about what Measure 109 is—and isn’t—a majority will support it.
During a pandemic, one way to reach voters, it turns out, is through soap. As I wrote in June, Dr. Bronner’s advertised Oregon’s psilocybin campaign with social media and marketing efforts—including a limited-edition soap label in support of the initiative. Its primary contribution, though, has been financial support. To date, Dr. Bronner’s has donated “north of $2 million,” according to Bronner, totaling about half of the campaign’s total donations. “Where other funders were a bit more challenged by the current circumstance, we were in a position to step up that much more.” (Dr. Bronner’s also donated to Oregon’s Measure 110, DC’s decriminalization measure, and various cannabis campaigns across the country; if these measures pass, “and we get a new president,” Bronner says, “I will be celebrating like you won’t believe.”)
“If we’re going to call this a medical treatment, then just like a treatment for cancer, or any of these other medical conditions, we must stick with the tradition of using rigorous and validated [research] to help be able to form a treatment.”
Beyond Dr. Bronner’s soap labels, the Yes on 109 campaign has put out television and digital ads, billboards, op-eds in local newspapers; sought editorial board endorsements (which they received from the Willamette Week and the Portland Mercury); and harnessed the power of “relational organizing,” a strategy of cultivating voters from supporters’ own contacts—friends, family, coworkers, and so on. “People are much more likely to take a phone call from someone they know than from someone they don’t,” Chapman explains. (My colleague Pema Levy has written a fascinating piece on relational organizing and how it could help Democrats defeat Trump in 2o20.)
Sheri Eckert says she is “nervous and hopeful” ahead of the election: “It’s going to be close.” But she’s also in awe of how far they’ve come. If it passes, Measure 109 will certainly add momentum to the broader psilocybin movement. But even just getting on the ballot is a feat in and of itself for drug policy reformers. As Bronner says, “I think we’re definitely at the cultural inflection point in integrating psychedelic medicine. And we’re seeing it happen here in Oregon.”