Former Secretaries of State Slam Attempt to Kill Independent Party

By NIGEL JAQUISS

The House Rules Committee today held a hearing on House Bill 2442, which would force the Independent Party of Oregon to drop the word "Independent" from its name.

The Independent Party's name irks some Democrats, who say the rapidly growing IPO has taken unfair advantage of some voters' desire not to be affiliated with either major party.

(Although the IPO has been Oregon's fastest growing political party in recent years, its 65,693 members make up only about 3 percent of the Oregon electorate. Democrats are 42 percent; Republicans 32 percent and those non-affiliated voters who haven't been fooled into joining the IPO, 21 percent. The other 2 percent, according to state figures, belong to five other minor parties).

The heavy-handed attempt to side-swipe the IPO met with some equally weighty criticism today, particularly in the joint written testimony submitted by former Secretaries of State Norma Paulus (a Republican, who served from 1977 to 1985) and Phil Keisling (a Democrat, who served from 1991 to 1999).

Here is their joint testimony:


WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.