§ ORS § 248.008Qualification as minor political party; party member registration requirement; eligibility to nominate candidates; maintenance of status as minor political party; loss of status as minor party

(1) An affiliation of electors becomes a minor political party in the state, a
county or other electoral district, qualified to make nominations for public
office in that electoral district and in any other electoral district wholly
contained within the electoral district, when the affiliation of electors has
acted as described in either paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection:

(a)(A) When the
affiliation of electors has filed with the Secretary of State a petition with
the signatures of at least a number of electors equal to one and one-half
percent of the total votes cast in the electoral district for all candidates
for Governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was
elected to a full term.

(B) The petition
must contain only original signatures and must be filed not later than two
years following the date the prospective petition is filed. The petition must
state the intention to form a new political party and designate a name for the
political party.

(C) Before
circulating the petition, the chief sponsor of the petition must file with the
Secretary of State a signed copy of the prospective petition. The chief sponsor
must include with the prospective petition a statement declaring whether one or
more persons will be paid money or other valuable consideration for obtaining
signatures of electors on the petition. After the prospective petition is
filed, the chief sponsor must notify the filing officer not later than the 10th
day after the chief sponsor first has knowledge or should have had knowledge
that:

(i) Any person is
being paid for obtaining signatures, when the statement included with the
prospective petition declared that no person would be paid for obtaining
signatures of electors.

(ii) No person is
being paid for obtaining signatures, when the statement included with the
prospective petition declared that one or more persons would be paid for
obtaining signatures of electors.

(D) The
circulator shall certify on each signature sheet that the circulator witnessed
the signing of the signature sheet by each individual whose signature appears
on the signature sheet and that the circulator believes each individual is an
elector registered in the electoral district.

(E) The Secretary
of State shall verify whether the petition contains the required number of
signatures of electors. The Secretary of State may not accept a petition for
filing if it contains less than 100 percent of the required number of
signatures. The Secretary of State by rule shall designate a statistical
sampling technique to verify whether a petition contains the required number of
signatures of electors. A petition may not be rejected for the reason that it
contains less than the required number of signatures unless two separate
sampling processes both establish that the petition lacks the required number
of signatures. The second sampling must contain a larger number of signatures
than the first sampling. The Secretary of State may employ professional
assistance to determine the sampling technique. The statistical sampling
technique may be the same as that adopted under ORS 250.105.

(b) When the
affiliation of electors has polled for any one of its candidates for any public
office in the electoral district at least one percent of the total votes cast
in the electoral district for all candidates for:

(A) Presidential
elector at the last general election at which candidates for President and Vice
President of the United States were listed on the ballot; or

(B) Any single
state office to be voted upon in the state at large for which nominations by
political parties are permitted by law at the most recent election at which a
candidate for the office was elected to a full term.

(2) After
satisfying either subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section, the minor political
party may nominate candidates for election at the next general election.

(3) A filing
officer may not accept a certificate of nomination of a candidate nominated by
a minor political party for a subsequent general election unless the minor
political party has maintained status as a minor political party as described
in subsection (4) of this section.

(4) In order to
maintain status as a minor political party for a subsequent general election:

(a) Following
each general election, at any time during the period beginning on the date of
the next primary election and ending on the 90th day before the next general
election, a number of electors equal to at least one-quarter of one percent of
the total number of registered electors in this state must be registered as
members of the party; or

(b)(A) Following
each general election, at any time during the period beginning on the date of
the next primary election and ending on the 90th day before the next general
election, a number of electors equal to at least one-tenth of one percent of
the total votes cast in the state or electoral district for all candidates for
Governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for Governor was
elected to a full term must be registered as members of the party; and

(B) At least once
in a four-year period, a candidate or candidates of the party must poll at
least one percent of the total votes cast in the electoral district for all
candidates for:

(i) Presidential
elector at the last general election at which candidates for President and Vice
President of the United States were listed on the ballot; or

(ii) Any single
state office to be voted upon in the state at large for which nominations by
political parties are permitted by law at the most recent election at which a
candidate for the office was elected to a full term.

(5) An
affiliation of electors that fails to maintain status as a minor political
party ceases to be a minor political party on the 90th day before the date of
the next general election.

(6) During the
period beginning on the date of the primary election and ending on the 90th day
before the date of the general election, the Secretary of State shall determine
at least once each month whether registration requirements to maintain status as
a minor political party have been satisfied.

(7) If a minor
political party changes its name, only those electors who register on or after
the effective date of the name change as members of the party under the new
party name shall be counted as members of the party.

(8) An
affiliation of electors or a minor political party may not nominate a candidate
who is the nominee of another political party at the same election in order to
satisfy the one percent requirement referred to in subsection (1)(b) or
(4)(b)(B) of this section.

(9) For purposes
of this section, “subsequent general election” means any general election that
is held after the first general election following qualification as a minor
political party under subsection (1) of this section. [1979 c.190 §70; 1983
c.756 §5; 1989 c.68 §1; 1989 c.923 §27; 1993 c.797 §§2,2a; 1995 c.606 §3; 1995
c.712 §16; 1997 c.287 §1; 1999 c.318 §23; 2001 c.331 §1; 2001 c.721 §3; 2007
c.848 §22; 2009 c.511 §4; 2013 c.517 §1; 2019 c.675 §31; 2022 c.84 §10]