Oregon Independent Party sues Secretary of State

The Oregon Independent Party and Secretary of State Bill Bradbury are headed to court to resolve their differences on how many parties can be listed next to a candidate’s name on the ballot, according to Oregon Independent Party Secretary Sal Peralta.

"We had hoped that the Secretary of State's Elections Division would recognize their mistake, correct it, and allow us to move on," Peralta said Tuesday.  "The opinion of our legal advisors is that the state's actions are inconsistent with Oregon law, and we need the court to step in and make a determination."

OR-1 congressional candidate Joel Haugen (R-Scappoose) is joining in on the lawsuit. Haugen, the Republican nominee, was cross nominated by the Oregon Independent Party, and has said that he wants both the Republican Party and the Independent Party next to his name on the ballot. The Independent Party believes that a 1995 statute means that there can be more than one party listed next to a candidate’s name.

The Secretary of State’s office has maintained that only one party can appear next to Haugen’s name on the ballot, and if Haugen wants the Independent Party to appear, he needs to relinquish his Republican nomination.

“There appears to be a difference of opinion in the interpretation of the law, and the Independent Party is asking the courts to clearly define the law,” Secretary of State Spokesman Don Hamilton said.

Hamilton refused to comment further on the case because of the impending lawsuit.

Now the question becomes if the case can be resolved before August 26, the date that the Secretary of State’s office has said that Haugen would need to resign the Republican nomination and take up the Independent nomination. Independent Party chair Linda Williams said that they have asked for an expedited hearing, and they expect the situation can be resolved before that date.

The Oregon Independent Party has also cross nominated Oregon House Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) and State Sen. and State Treasurer candidate Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo).

“The Independent Party makes a strong argument that the statutory changes in 1995 require that party nominations accepted by a candidate should appear on that candidate’s ballot line,” Westlund said when he was nominated Monday. ”The statute seems to indicate that both nominations should be printed in this case.”

As for Haugen, he has been embraced by the Independent Party even as he has lost a lot of support from local 1st District Republicans because of his endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Because of his Independent support and his Republican affiliation, he feels that both parties should be next to his name on the ballot.

“Joel has never been someone that is as worried about the letter after his name as he is worried about the ideas that come out of his candidacy,” Haugen’s campaign manager Sarah Tiedemann said. “If both parties are next to his name,that is the most accurate representation of him to the voters.”