The Constitution Party of Oregon is a ballot-qualified minor party, so it nominates by convention. The party chooses delegates to its state convention at its various county conventions. Then, the state convention delegates choose the party’s statewide nominees. In June 2006, the party chose Mary Starrett for Governor. She is a well-known television and radio talk show host.

The Constitution Party followed Oregon state law, by running a legal notice in various newspapers, giving advance notice of its county conventions. The purpose of the legal ad is to notify all the party’s registrants that they are free to attend the county conventions and vote at those county conventions.

But the party did not run such ads prior to its state convention. It reasoned that since only delegates from the county conventions can vote at the state convention, there would be no purpose in the ads. The law requires that notice be given for party meetings in which all party members can vote, but is ambiguous about party meetings at which only delegates can vote.

An attorney associated with the Oregon Republican Party has filed a legal challenge to the party’s failure to run notices about the state convention. The Oregon Secretary of State says he will decide whether to remove Starrett from the ballot by September 7. Oregon’s Secretary of State has been hostile to minor party and independent candidates in recent years, and has already hinted that he will rule against the Constitution Party. If Starrett is removed from the ballot, the Constitution Party will have no statewide nominee on the ballot, and will be disqualified for failing to meet the 1% vote test. The law would also permit the party to remain on the ballot if its registration were equal to one-half of 1% of the registration, but the Constitution Party only has about one-eighth of 1% of the registration.