Greater Idaho Citizens Group Asks for Support of President-Elect | Idaho

Leaders of Citizens of Greater Idaho issued a press release earlier this week in which the group is asking President-elect Donald Trump for support in its efforts to move the borders between Oregon and Idaho.

Many residents of eastern and southern Oregon counties expressed a strong desire to redraw Idaho’s boundaries to include conservative-majority regions of the state.

“It has become clear to the people of Eastern Oregon that our own state government will not listen to us and implement what we voted for, which means moving the border,” said Matt McCaw, executive director of the movement.

The press release states that Mike McCarter, current president of the Greater Idaho Movement, agreed.

“For four years we have been going directly to people to hear what they want,” McCarter said in the press release. “They have made it clear that they want to begin border negotiations.”

Klamath County joined the discussion about potential statehood change in 2020 when ballot measure 18-121 was passed to establish the Border Relocation Board.

The measure was placed on the ballot this year under the initiative process defined in Oregon Statute 250.205.

“Oregon law (ORS 250.205) requires that the number of active registered voter signatures required to place an initiative or referendum measure on the ballot is based on a percentage of the total votes cast in the county for all gubernatorial candidates the last election in which a candidate for governor was elected to a full term.”

This required 1,813 valid signatures from Klamath County’s registered voters.

McCarter was also quoted in the news release as saying that leaders of the Greater Idaho Movement had contacted state lawmakers and the governor’s office and received “no response.”

“The Oregon state government has been unwilling to listen to the residents of Eastern Oregon,” McCarter said in the release. “But we believe the (elected) president will do this.”

A copy of the letter can be found at greatidaho.org/view/104.