The Oregonian
February 03, 2006

The political parties tack up another "No Trespassing" sign, but voters may get a chance to open up primary elections
Friday, February 03, 2006
The Oregonian

Democrat and Republican partisans have become burly bouncers stationed at the entrance to Oregon's political system, turning away one independent after another with a condescending smile, "Sorry, private party."

The party-protectors strung another rope line in the last Legislature, pushing through a law to make it much harder for unaffiliated candidates to make their way into Oregon's general elections.

The law prevents anyone who votes in a primary election from also helping to nominate an independent candidate, regardless of whether the voter signs a petition before or after the primary. Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, claimed the law is just about "preserving one voter, one vote in the nominating process."

It is more than that. It is another "No Trespassing" sign the parties have put up at the border of Oregon's political system. If the Legislature wanted solely to uphold the one-person, one-vote maxim, it would have passed a law that upheld a voter's first nominating act, whether it was a signature in support of an independent candidate or a vote in a primary election.

Instead, the law insists that a vote in a party primary election trumps all. If you sign a petition nominating an independent candidate for governor today, but vote in the Democratic or Republican primary in May, your signature, not your later vote, will be rejected.

This law is about making it harder for independent candidates while reinforcing the supremacy of the party. It stems from Ralph Nader's attempt in 2004 to get on the state ballot as an independent candidate for president. In the belief that a Nader candidacy in Oregon would hurt Democrat John Kerry, Republican operatives urged their members to show up at Nader's nominating convention, and later, sign nominating petitions.

None of this ended up having any effect on the 2004 elections. Yet leaders of both parties in the Legislature still felt compelled to pass the law to block independent candidates and further disenfranchise Oregonians who share the misfortune of seeing the world as more complicated than right versus left, liberal versus conservative.

Look at the results: Former Gov. John Kitzhaber flirted with an independent run for governor this year, but abandoned the idea after looking at the strict new rules. State Sen. Ben Westlund, a moderate Republican from Bend, is likely to make an independent run for governor, but now he has to struggle to get on the ballot.

Oregon needs more, not fewer, independent voices in its political system. If the parties persist in closing off the options of Oregon voters, there will be a backlash. One may come sooner rather than later: Supporters of an initiative to create a "top two" open primary system are now gathering signatures to put the idea on the ballot.

No one is claiming that a top two primary would fix all that ails Oregon politics. It would not end partisanship, or turn the Legislature into a well-oiled machine cranking out solutions to school-funding and health care crises.

However, it's time to challenge the closed primary system where ever-smaller minorities of voters set the limited choices for the general election. Let the parties defend a system that this fall will give voters an uninspiring choice between Derrick Kitts and David Wu for a seat in Congress, while dissuading people like Kitzhaber and Westlund from seeking major office.

The parties still are holding the door to Oregon's political system. But more and more independents are knocking. More people are coming to the conclusion that Oregon elections should not be by invitation only. Those bouncers are about to have their hands full.

©2006 The Oregonian