Oregon’s constitution has one of the broadest protections of free speech in the United States. State voters generally have resisted changing the free speech section, since it was written into the 1859 state constitution.

They may get the opportunity to resist it again.

A Portland-based group is bent on changing the state’s free-speech protections found in Article I, Section 8. The group, led by Ron Buel and B. Elizabeth Trojan, hopes to place a measure on the 2020 general election ballot that would give the Legislature and the people the right to limit campaign contributions and expenditures pretty much as they see fit. Legislative changes would require a three-fourths majority vote to become law.

Oregonians don’t need that. Though we’ve voted on changes to the free-speech article at least three times since the mid-1990s, two, including one campaign-finance measure, were rejected outright; a third was overturned on appeal to federal court.

Should the “Get Big Money Out of Oregon Elections III” proposal make it to the ballot, voters should reject it again.

This state works hard to ensure that voters know who is giving how much to candidates and ballot measures.

Reports are accessible on the Secretary of State’s website, and, in the runup to an election, contributions must be reported within seven days of receipt.

Oregonians’ right to free speech includes our right to give as much as we wish to candidates and causes for a reason. The men and women we elect and the things they stand for can have more impact on daily life in this state than almost anything else we can think of.

Creating limits creates loopholes, no matter how it has been done. Strong reporting laws, meanwhile, give voters the information they need to show who is behind candidates.

The proposed ballot measure is in its infancy. It would be nice if it died there, but if it does get to the signature-gathering stage, Oregonians should give it the short shrift it deserves.