On June 29, the Oregon Senate passed HB 2614 by 17-12, and on June 30 the
Oregon House passed it 39-7. It makes it illegal for primary voters to sign for
an independent candidate. Attempts are being made to persuade Governor Kulongoski to veto it, for these 4 reasons: (1) 7 federal
courts, and one state supreme court, have said that it is unconstitutional for
a state to make independent candidate ballot access harder than minor party
ballot access; (2) the bill imposes extra work on county elections officials,
since it’s more work to check independent candidate petitions if the signer’s
registration status and the signer’s history of voting in primaries must both
be checked; (3) the bill is inconsistent in saying that its purpose is to
prevent voters from participating in two nominating events, since it continues
to be legal for voters to sign two different primary petitions for the same
office, or two independent candidate petitions for the same office; (4) the
bill is not clear about how to handle a voter who signs the petition and then
votes in the primary.