A new party in Oregon, called the Independent Party, turned in approximately 26,000 signatures on December 6, 2006. The state will know if the party has enough valid signatures by January 20, 2007 or so. The Independent Party seems to be either centrist or somewhat “progressive” and wants to stiffen Oregon campaign finance laws. It also wants to make it easier for independent candidates to get on the ballot. Because the 2005 session of the Oregon legislature made it much more difficult for independent candidates to get on the ballot, the existence of the Independent Party offers a second vehicle for such potential candidates in the future. Also, the 2005 session of the legislature passed HB 2167, which says that in the future, independent candidates are to be labeled “Non-affiliated Voter” on the November ballot, not “independent candidate”. So, there was no problem with the Oregon Independent Party’s name being rejected as too similar to the term “independent candidate”.

In 2002, the Missouri Clean Water Commission was expanded from 6 members to 7 members. Unchanged at that time was an earlier law, that no more than 3 members of any political party sit on that Commission.

Recently the Sierra Club noticed that the Missouri Water Commission has 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats, and brought this to the attention of the press. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt pooh-poohed the problem, saying it is only “common sense” that one major party must be allowed to have 4 members on the Commission, notwithstanding the clear language of the law. The Sierra Club, in response, pointed out that the Governor is free to appoint an independent, or a member of some party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Missouri does not have registration by party, so it is sometimes somewhat unclear how to characterize any individual’s party affiliation. Thanks to Eric Dondero for this story.

On December 26, a challenge was filed to the petitions submitted to place Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley on the ballot. Chicago requires 12,500 signatures for anyone to get on the ballot in any citywide race. The elections have been non-partisan starting in 1999. Before 1999, Democrats and Republicans needed far fewer signatures, whereas everyone else needed 25,000.

Mayor Daley submitted 24,000 to meet the requirement of 12,500, so it is unlikely that the individual who challenged his petition will be able to show the petition is invalid.

The election is February 27, 2007. Five candidates for Mayor filed petitions; three of those five are being challenged.