The Oregon legislature adjourned a few days ago, and HB 4026 failed to pass, even though it had passed the House and the Senate Committee. It would have made it easier for parties to remain on the ballot. The Working Families Party will now need to do a registration drive if it wants to remain on the ballot. Probably the party will do that, after the May primary is over.
Washington does not have party qualification. Why does Oregon?
Different regimes — different HACKS thinking – so-called.
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Washington does have party qualification. A qualified party is one that polled 5% for president. That is the most stringent law of any western state, for party qualification. Washington is the only western state with no ballot-qualified parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Before Washington had a top-two system, the vote test was much easier. It was 5% for any statewide race, a hurdle the Reform Party met in 1996, and the Libertarian Party met in 2000. But because parties no longer have nominees in Washington any longer, except president, the old vote test didn’t work any more.