Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.
Oregon passed a bill saying all adult citizens known to the state will be automatically registered to vote, unless an individual, upon being notified that he or she had just become registered, then declines to be registered.
All these new automatically registered voters are being listed as independent voters, unless they return a form choosing a party.
This will increase the number of registered voters in Oregon.
But because most minor parties keep their ballot-qualified status by having a certain percentage of voters as members, one accidental consequence of the new voter registration system is that minor party share of the total registration will shrink.
On March 2, the legislature passed two bills, SB 1501 and SB 1599, saying that for purposes of determining the qualified status of political parties, the denominator for both 2016 and 2018 will be the number of registered voters in the state as of July 2015.
This will keep the Independent Party above 5%, which it needs to keep its status as a party entitled to a primary.
It will also make it easier for the state’s qualified minor parties to remain qualified. They need either one-half of 1% of the registration, or a vote of 1% for any statewide race at either of the last two elections plus registration of one-tenth of 1%.
CLICK HERE for more information about SB1501.
CLICK HERE for more information about SB1599.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment