Ballot Access News

The Oregon House Interim Committee on Rules has introduced many bills that affect minor parties and independent candidates. HB 2428 would eliminate fusion. Several parties could still nominate a candidate, but the candidate could only have one party label on the ballot. The candidate would choose which party label to use.

HB 2442, and also SB 263, would go into effect immediately and would say that no political party can have “independent” as its name. The bill would let the ballot-qualified Independent Party choose a new name. The bill would also provide that independent candidates, who are now on the ballot as “Nonaffiliated” would in the future be on the ballot as “Nonaffiliated/Independent.” The bill says that letting any party call itself the Independent Party is confusing.

HB 2432 says that party labels must be printed on the ballot without being abbreviated. In 2010, the Oregon Secretary of State permitted some counties to show only party abbreviations on the ballot. Virtually every voter knows what “Dem” and “Rep” means, but the abbreviations for minor parties are much less understood. For example, the Green Party was abbreviated “PGP” (which is an acronym for “Pacific Green Party”).

HB 2421 would require qualified minor parties to forward a list of voters who participate in their nomination process. Most ballot-qualified minor parties in Oregon nominate by convention, but the Independent Party nominated with a mail-ballot, paid for by the party itself.

An Oregon bill that only affects the major parties is HB 2492, which eliminates party officer elections from the primary ballot, and says parties should choose their officials any way they wish, but at their own expense.

On February 9, a special committee of the Massachusetts House determined that the new election to fill the disputed election in the Worcester 6 district won’t be held until May 10. The original election, of course, had been on November 2, 2010. The original returns showed the Republican challenger, Peter Durant, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Geraldo Alicea, by four votes. A recount showed Durant winning by one vote. Alicea then sued and the judge determined that the true results were a tie, and that a new election should be held. Now the legislative committee, which was charged with the details of the new election, has apparently determined that there must be a new primary as well. The new primary will probably be held on April 12 and the new election on May 10. See this story. In the meantime, Alicea holds the seat.

Maryland State Senator Edward J. Pipkin (R-Stevensville) has introduced SB 630. It clarifies that petition signatures do not need to exactly match the name of that voter in voter registration records. Several years ago, the state’s highest state court issued a ruling that seemed to say that petition signatures must match perfectly with the form of the name on voter registration records. For example, if a person showed a middle initial on the voter registration record, and yet signed a petition without that middle initial, the signature is void. Late last year, the same court seemed to retract that, but the court still hasn’t issued a complete explanation of its order, so the matter is still in doubt.

The bill says the signature is valid if the identity of the signer reasonably can be determined. Thanks to Brian Bittner for the news about this bill.