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admin's blogStatesman-Journal Covers Our Election
Independent Party to hold first online primary Peter Wong Although it's smaller than either the Democratic or Republican parties, the Independent Party is combining the new with the old in the first-ever primary election conducted online in Oregon — and the first binding primary conducted online in any state. Unlike the mail ballots that Oregon uses for all other elections, making it unique in the nation, there is no way to gauge how many of the 55,000 voters registered with the party have taken part online already. But organizers hope participation will exceed the 8 percent in a Democratic presidential preference primary in Arizona or 1 percent in a similar Republican preference primary in Alaska. Both votes took place in 2000; the Alaska vote was limited to three remote districts. Read more ... Democrat-Herald: State should help pay for minor party elections
By Hasso Hering Officers of the Independent Party are holding a primary election to nominate candidates for state and federal offices. The state is not lifting a finger to help them, and that ought to be changed. For registered Democrats and Republicans, the state Elections Division and the various counties run elections at public expense. They provide staff time. They handle the filing and collect fees. They have the ballots printed and mailed. They provide a pamphlet for voters to use. The public even pays for electing party committee members on the county level, a service to the main parties without any public benefit. In contrast, the state and the counties do exactly zip for recognized minor parties when it comes to their nominating elections. That’s something that minor-party members and taxpayers ought to resent. Read more ... Portland Tribune Article on Our Election
By Christian Gaston Bruce Starr and Chuck Riley don’t have much in common. Starr, the Republican state Sen. from Hillsboro, and Riley, his Democratic challenger in the November election are on opposite sides of the political aisle. But both are seeking to win in the fall with a little help from their friends. Their friends in the Independent party. Note the capital I in independent. These aren’t voters unaffiliated with any party, they’re members of Oregon’s fastest growing political persuasion. But unlike the GOP or the D’s, the I’s have few restrictions on who can get the party’s nomination. Read more ... Eugene Register-Guard Editorial about Our Election
EDITORIAL: An experimental primary The Register-Guard No minor party in Oregon has ever conducted a primary election before. No party of any description in Oregon, major or minor, has conducted an election via the Internet. No Oregon party has ever conducted a primary election at its own expense. The Independent Party of Oregon is currently doing all three. The experiment could change both elections and politics in the state and beyond. . . . . For Independents with Internet access, the process will be free, convenient and information-rich. Provided the process is secure and can avoid technical troubles, it could prove popular — not only among Independents, but among others who may begin to demand that their own parties, major and minor, conduct their primaries in a similar way. If the process being pioneered by the Independent Party spreads, elections and politics in Oregon may never be the same. Read more ... Statesman-Journal Chronicles Our Election
Independent Party members to vote online by Peter Wong More than 55,000 Independent Party of Oregon voters will have the chance to take part in the first primary election by a minor party in Oregon — and the first conducted online. Each received a pass code enabling them to vote for party nominees for governor, U.S. representative and legislative seats. In all, 86 candidates are running, including 36 incumbent state legislators. Several have been nominated already by the Democratic and Republican parties. The primary started Thursday morning and will end at 5 p.m. July 30. Results will be released afterward. It is too late to qualify to participate in the primary. Democrats and Republicans nominate their candidates in the May 18 primary. State law provides for a different procedure for minor parties to qualify their candidates for the general-election ballot; their deadline is Aug. 24. A 2009 law allows candidates to list up to three party designations, but only on a single line, in what is known as "fusion light" voting. Secretary of State of Oregon Rejects Complaint filed by the Democratic PartyThe Secretary of State of Oregon has rejected the baseless complaint against the Independent Party of Oregon filed by the Democratic Party of Oregon on June 1, 2010. "The Democratic Party and its unelected paid operatives attacked us for trying to conduct an historic full membership primary election . . . and then complained that their attack might force us to use the methods other minor parties traditionally use to select candidates (caucus and convention). The taxpayers pay for the Democratic Party's primary election, but there is no government money to pay for ours," said Independent Party chair, Linda Williams. Read more ... AP Reports on Forthcoming IPO Primary Election
OR Independent Party attempts online-only primary By Nigel Duara, The Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- It would be a first for Oregon: The state's largest minor party says it's going to conduct an online-only primary this summer. Linda Williams, founder of the Independent Party of Oregon, said Wednesday the primary will begin sometime in July and last for two weeks. "We are trying to make a difference in a systemic way in Oregon," she said. Oregon secretary of state's spokesman Don Hamilton confirms the state has not previously had an online-only primary. Read more ... Op-Ed at Oregonian
The Independent Party: A new kind of force in Oregon politics by Sal Peralta There have been various news accounts about my role in fundraising for the Independent Party of Oregon's upcoming statewide election. The stories include excerpts from recordings of conversations secretly taped by a Democratic state senator and a Senate Democratic staffer in which I asked candidates to help defray the cost of holding a full and fair Internet election. I made mistakes. My rationale for asking these candidates to donate was simple and maybe too naive: I thought that if a candidate was committed to an open process and seeking nomination from thousands of voters, then he or she might have an interest in helping the process -- making sure the election is held by an experienced Internet voting firm, that all party members receive mail notice of their secure log-on codes, and that the results are certified as unimpeachable and fair. The state of Oregon spends millions of taxpayer dollars on primary elections for Democrats and Republicans. Minor parties receive nothing -- no subsidy from taxpayers, no filing fees from candidates, not a cent. I understand that I didn't always express my rationale clearly enough. I've learned a tough lesson. But let's not lose sight of the facts: No candidate has paid to participate in this election, and not a dime is at taxpayer expense. Read more ... |
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