Eugene Register-Guard Editorial Urges Governor to Sign SB 326

Register-Guard


Bill restores voters’ rights; And it grants minor parties new visibility

EDITORIAL
Monday, Jul 6, 2009

The tyranny of the majority is so fearsome a force that it’s reassuring to see a dominant political party refusing to exercise its power over potential rivals. An example of such restraint came on the final day of Oregon’s legislative session, when lawmakers passed a bill repealing a 2005 law that limits the rights of many voters to become involved in independent candidates’ campaigns. The Democratic-­controlled Legislature also gave minor political parties a new path to prominence by approving a form of what’s called “fusion voting.” Gov. Ted Kulongoski should sign the bill.     Read more ...

The 2005 law, approved in response to Ralph Nader’s spoiler role in presidential elections and the possibility of then-Sen. Ben Westlund of Bend running for governor as an independent, is a bank shot: It is aimed at voters who are registered as Democrats and Republicans, but the real target is candidates who are not affiliated with any party. The law says that any voter who casts a ballot in a major party’s primary election is ineligible to sign a nominating petition for an independent candidate.

The law effectively reduces the pool of potential petition-signers by half, because about 50 percent of the electorate votes in partisan primary elections. More to the point, it doubled the difficulty of gaining a spot on the ballot by petition.

The rationale for limiting voters’ rights in this fashion is that people who vote in the Democratic or Republican primaries already have participated in one party’s nominating process, and that by signing petitions they supposedly would play a role in a second nomination.

The argument wrongly equates a petition with a vote. People who sign petitions to place initiative measures on the ballot and then support the proposal in the next election aren’t considered to have voted twice. Similarly, voters of any partisan affiliation — or none — should be free to sign one or more prospective candidates’ nominating petitions.

Senate Bill 326 repeals this law, ending the injustice done in 2005.

SB 326 also introduces a political innovation to Oregon: It would allow candidates to appear on the ballot as the nominee of more than one political party. Such fusion voting is well-established in several other states.

A Republican, for instance, might choose to identified as the candidate of both the GOP and the Libertarian Party. Or a Democrat might be listed as the candidate of both the Democratic Party and the Pacific Green Party. Up to three parties could be listed.

Oregon’s form of fusion voting would give minor parties the option of visibly giving their nomination to major party candidates they judge to be worthy or their support, while also giving candidates the option of accepting it. The real beneficiaries would be voters, who would gain an additional clue about candidates’ political leanings.

The governor has not decided whether to sign the bill, but he should. A survey of Oregon’s political landscape shows that neither major party has reason to fear competition from independents or minor parties. Even if the result of SB 326 was to empower independents and minor parties, elections aren’t held for the benefit of parties or candidates — the political process should serve the voters’ interests above all else.

The Legislature remembered that fundamental fact on the last day of the session. Kulongoski should bear it in mind as well.