Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski will sign SB 326, according to the Governor’s spokesperson. See this story.
This development means that 2009 has been the best year for getting ballot access improvement bills through state legislatures since 2004. This year has brought significant ballot access improvements from the state legislatures of Arkansas, Maine, Oregon and West Virginia. It has also brought lesser improvements in the ballot access laws in Louisiana, Texas and Utah. Furthermore, there is a fair chance that Rhode Island’s legislature will decrease the number of signatures for a new party, when the House reconvenes in a few weeks. Thanks to Larry Moskowitz for the link.
As expected, the Oregon Working Families Party is excited about this: http://www.oregonwfp.org/
Bravo to Oregon for pushing democracy along a little bit in the “world’s leading democracy.” And thanks to Oregon and the half dozen other states Richard mentions for making this a good if not banner year. Rhode Island
would make that a baker’s half dozen (ie, 6 + 1).