There’s a lot of debate about just what you need to do in order to legitimately sign a petition getting independent Ben Westlund on the November ballot for the governor’s race (see Jack’s comments on this post for just one example).

It seems to boil down to this: if you are a registered Democrat or Republican and use the partisan ballot you’re issued to vote in the primary election - even if you fail to vote for the governor’s race or any other partisan race - your signature will NOT be counted if you later sign Ben Westlund’s petition. Yeah - it’s not at all fair, and it’ll probaby get challenged in court at some point in time.

(Here’s the confirming paragraph, found in the state’s 2006 Campaign Manual for Independents (as found on Ben Westlund’s site):

If an elector has returned a partisan ballot
at the 2006 Primary Election (Democrat or
Republican) the elector may not participate in any
of the following processes to nominate minor
political party or nonaffiliated candidates to
the General Election ballot (regardless of how the
elector voted the partisan ballot).

But what IS clear is this: if you change your affiliation right now FROM your current party TO unaffiliated/independent, you’ll receive a nonpartisan ballot, and are therefore eligible to sign Westlund’s petition (provided you do nothing else to invalidate your nonpartisan status, like appear at a nomination convention, for example.)

The deadline to change your affiliation is April 25th; you can do so by re-registering to vote at your local county elections office (or by accessing materials online - here’s the PDF.) I just called and talked to Joyce at the Multnomah County Elections Office, who confirmed for me that you have to change your affiliation on or before 21 days before the election itself. She says you can change your affiliation by sending (or delivering in person) a letter to your elections office; or by re-registering: I’d play it safe and take the second approach if I were you.

She also confirmed that you can’t just fail to vote for the governor’s race on a partisan ballot and then be allowed to legitimately sign Westlund’s petition.

Not sure what your status is? Call the MultCo elections office: (503) 988-3720 (or check the card you should have gotten in the mail within the last month or so….)

Related posts:

1. Voting tips and tricks
2. Call Me a “Know-Nothing,” But I Won’t Sign Any Petitions
3. Don’t Let Bad Handwriting Keep You From Voting
4. Overheard at the Gym
5. Ben Westlund answers my call…