Chapter 331 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

SB 777

Relating to minor political parties; amending ORS 248.008.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 248.008 is amended to read:

248.008. (1) An affiliation of electors becomes a minor political party in the state, a county or other electoral district, qualified to make nominations for public office in that electoral district and in any other electoral district wholly contained within the electoral district, when either of the following events occurs:

(a) When the affiliation of electors has filed with the Secretary of State a petition with the signatures of at least a number of electors equal to one and one-half percent of the total votes cast in the electoral district for all candidates for Governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was elected to a full term. The petition also shall state the intention to form a new political party and give the designation of it. The filed petition shall contain only original signatures. The petition shall be filed not later than two years following the date the prospective petition is filed. The circulator shall certify on each signature sheet that the individuals signed the sheet in the presence of the circulator and that the circulator believes each individual is an elector registered in the electoral district. The Secretary of State shall verify whether the petition contains the required number of signatures of electors. The petition shall not be accepted for filing if it contains less than 100 percent of the required number of signatures. The Secretary of State by rule shall designate a statistical sampling technique to verify whether a petition contains the required number of signatures of electors. A petition shall not be rejected for the reason that it contains less than the required number of signatures unless two separate sampling processes both establish that the petition lacks the required number of signatures. The second sampling must contain a larger number of signatures than the first sampling. The Secretary of State may employ professional assistance to determine the sampling technique. The statistical sampling technique may be the same as that adopted under ORS 250.105. Before circulating the petition, the chief sponsor of the petition shall file with the Secretary of State a signed copy of the prospective petition. The chief sponsor shall include with the prospective petition a statement declaring whether one or more persons will be paid money or other valuable consideration for obtaining signatures of electors on the petition. After the prospective petition is filed, the chief sponsor shall notify the filing officer not later than the 10th day after the chief sponsor first has knowledge or should have had knowledge that:

(A) Any person is being paid for obtaining signatures, when the statement included with the prospective petition declared that no such person would be paid.

(B) No person is being paid for obtaining signatures, when the statement included with the prospective petition declared that one or more such persons would be paid.

(b) When the affiliation of electors has polled for any one of its candidates for any public office in the electoral district at least one percent of the total votes cast in the electoral district for all candidates for:

(A) Presidential elector at the last general election at which candidates for President and Vice President of the United States were listed on the ballot; or

(B) Any single state office to be voted upon in the state at large for which nominations by political parties are permitted by law at the most recent election at which a candidate for the office was elected to a full term.

(2) After satisfying either requirement of subsection (1) of this section, the minor political party may nominate candidates at the next general election if at any time during the period beginning on the date of the next biennial primary election and ending on the 90th day before the next general election, a number of electors equal to at least one-tenth of one percent of the total votes cast in the state or electoral district for all candidates for Governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was elected to a full term are registered as members of the party.

(3) A filing officer shall not accept a certificate of nomination of a candidate nominated by a minor political party unless the minor political party has satisfied the registration requirement of subsection (2) of this section.

(4) After a minor political party qualifies to nominate candidates, in order to maintain status as a minor political party:

(a) A candidate or candidates of the party must poll a number of votes described in subsection (1)(b) of this section at each subsequent general election[;] and

[(b)] following each general election, the registration requirement of subsection (2) of this section must be satisfied; or

(b) Following each general election, at any time during the period beginning on the date of the next biennial primary election and ending on the 90th day before the next general election, a number of electors equal to at least one-half of one percent of the total number of registered electors in this state must be registered as members of the party.

(5) An affiliation of electors ceases to be a minor political party in the state or electoral district if:

(a) The registration requirement of subsection (2) or (4)(b) of this section is not satisfied. The affiliation of electors ceases to be a minor political party on the date of the deadline for satisfying the registration requirement; or

(b) Except as provided in subsection (4)(b) of this section, in the case of a minor political party qualified to nominate candidates, a candidate or candidates of the minor political party do not satisfy the one percent requirement specified in subsection (1)(b) of this section at the next general election. The affiliation of electors ceases to be a minor political party on the date of the election.

(6) During the period beginning on the date of the biennial primary election and ending on the 90th day before the date of the general election, the Secretary of State shall determine not less than once each month whether the registration requirement of subsection (2) or (4)(b) of this section has been satisfied. If the party changes its name, only those electors who register on or after the effective date of the name change as members of the party under the new party name shall be counted as members of the party under this subsection.

(7) An affiliation of electors, a major political party subject to ORS 248.006 (4) or a minor political party may not satisfy the one percent requirement referred to in subsection (1)(b) of this section by nominating a candidate who is the nominee of another political party at the same election.

Approved by the Governor June 5, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 5, 2001

Effective date January 1, 2002

__________