Early in 2012, Oregon voters will fill the vacancy in the U.S. House seat, First District. The Independent Party of Oregon has nominated Suzanne Bonamici, who is also the Democratic Party nominee. She defeated Rob Cornilles, the Republican nominee, by a vote of 56-31 in the Independent Party nomination process.

Registered members of the Independent Party voted in this primary by going to the party’s web page, downloading and printing the ballot, and mailing it to the party, together with a photocopy of that voter’s ID. Voters in Independent Party primaries cannot vote unless they had been registered members of the party for a short period before the election had been announced. This party rule is to prevent the party’s nomination from being influenced by partisans of either major party who might join the Independent Party at the last minute, to influence the outcome. Since 2009, Oregon has permitted two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate.