Ballot access requirements for political parties in Oregon

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Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • As of May 2024, Oregon officially recognized nine political parties: the Constitution, Democratic, Independent, Libertarian, Pacific Green Party of Oregon, Progressive, Republican, Working Families, and the No Labels parties.
  • In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Oregon does not allow candidates to use political party designations.
  • To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Oregon, see this article.

    DocumentIcon.jpg See state election laws

    Process for a political party to obtain ballot status

    DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 248, Section 008 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

    In order to qualify as a new minor party, a group of electors must file with the secretary of state a petition with signatures equaling at least 1.5 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for governor was elected to a full term.[1][2]

    The petition must state the intention to form a new party and provide a designation for the party. Before circulating, the petition's sponsor must file with the secretary of state a signed copy of the prospective petition. The completed petition must be filed no later than two years after the date the prospective petition is filed.[1]

    In order to maintain qualified minor party status, the party must poll for any one of its candidates for any public office at least 1 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for either of the following:[1]

    1. presidential elector at the last general election
    2. any single state office to be voted upon in the state at large for which nominations by political parties are permitted by law

    A minor party is required to file a copy of its organizational documents with the filing officer (i.e., the secretary of state) no later than 30 days after they are adopted by the party. All minor parties select candidates for office by nominating convention. Only major parties as defined by the state may participate in primaries. See "Political parties" above for more information.[3]

    Political parties

    See also: List of political parties in the United States

    As of May 2024, there were nine recognized political parties in Oregon. These are listed in the table below.[4]

    Party Website link By-laws/platform link
    Constitution Party of Oregon Link Party platform
    Democratic Party of Oregon Link Party by-laws
    Independent Party of Oregon[5] Link Party party
    Libertarian Party of Oregon Link Party by-laws
    No Labels Party Link Party platform
    Pacific Green Party of Oregon Link Party platform
    Progressive Party of Oregon Link Party platform
    Republican Party of Oregon Link Party by-laws
    Working Families Party of Oregon Link Party platform

    Historical events

    2023

    On March 10, 2023, Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D) announced that the No Labels party had submitted the signatures required for ballot qualification[6]

    2015

    On August 17, 2015, Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins announced that the Independent Party had qualified for recognition as a major political party. As such, the party was authorized to participate in the 2016 primary election. In Oregon, a party is considered "major" if at least 5 percent of the number of voters registered in the state are registered as members of the party no later than the 275th day before the date of a primary election. As of August 16, 2015, the Independent Party had registered 109,363 voters, slightly above the required 108,739.[7][8]

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