Subject: Re: [EL] Banning political parties
From: Dan Meek
Date: 4/9/2011, 10:38 PM
CC: "election-law@mailman.lls.edu" <election-law@mailman.lls.edu>

The Independent Party of Oregon was created by voter petition in 2006 (certified in January 2007).  Until this year, 2011, the Oregon voter registration forms had never allowed anyone to register as "independent" or "Independent."  If the voter did not check a box next to the name of an existing major or minor party (or check a box for "Other Party" and fill in the name of the other party), then the voter was considered "non-affiliated."  There was also a box on the form for "Not a member of a party."

Between 2007 and this year, anyone who joined the Independent Party of Oregon needed to check a box for "Independent Party."  This is different from Maryland, where "Independent" alone was a choice.  Also, in Maryland the officers of the Independent Party failed, since November 2008, to file legally required papers or to respond to inquiries from the Secretary of State.  Its dissolution was not because of its name.

With no notice to any of the minor parties, the Secretary of State of Oregon recently changed the paper form so that the choice of parties is presented in this manner:



None of the minor parties asked for this change.  It does have the benefit of emphasizing "Not a member of a party" at the top of the list, which is good, but it unfortunately omits the word "Party" after the name of each party.

On the web form, the partes are still presented with the name "Party" following each one, and "Not a member of a party" is a choice.

There is an official "Independent Party" in each of at least these other states:  Delaware, Connecticut, Florida, New Mexico.

The Oregon bill would ban use of the word "independent" in the name of any party.  Thus, it would also ban the American Independent Party (which nominated George Wallace in Oregon in 1964 and others in later presidential elections) and the Independent Initiative Party, which was created by supporters of Ross Perot for the 1992 presidential election in Oregon.  Because Perot won 23% of the Oregon vote that year, the Independent Initiative Party automatically became Oregon's third major party.  It voluntarily changed its name to the American Party and then was dissolved about 3 years later due to its failure to meet the voter registration threshold or to run a candidate garnering sufficient votes in the prior (1994) election.


Dan Meek
10949 S.W. 4th Ave
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