Lawsuit Filed Against Oregon Ballot Access Restriction

October 3rd, 2006

On October 3, a voting rights group filed a federal lawsuit against an Oregon law that injures independent candidates. The Oregon legislature in 2005 had passed a law, prohibiting voters who had voted in the primary, or who were going to vote in the primary, from signing independent candidate petitions. The new lawsuit attacks this law. The US Supreme Court had upheld this type of law in 1974. However, the Oregon law has some legal vulnerabilities, and this lawsuit may succeed despite the 1974 US Supreme Court ruling.

4 Responses to “Lawsuit Filed Against Oregon Ballot Access Restriction”

  1. james Says:
    October 3rd, 2006 at 9:04 pm

    Is the 1974 ruling the one from Texas?

  2. Greg Wasson Says:
    October 4th, 2006 at 9:48 am

    James -

  3. Greg Wasson Says:
    October 4th, 2006 at 9:52 am

    James -

    Sorry, I pushed the wrong button. I’m the person who filed the Oregon suit, and, yes the ruling is from Texas.

    The difference between Oregon and Texas, though, is that Oregonians have expressly had this right in statute since 1904.

    Greg Wasson

  4. Richard Winger Says:
    October 5th, 2006 at 3:40 am

    US Constitutional grounds for overturning the Oregon restriction are: (1) states cannot make ballot access harder for a statewide independent than an entire new party, see DeLaney v Bartlett; (2) Oregon violates the principle that the first nominating act counts and the 2nd one doesn’t. See Lily v Mahoney, a New York Supreme Court ruling from 1977 or 1978. These two points differentiate Oregon’s HB 2614 restriction from Texas law upheld in 1974 by the US Supreme Court.