Here Come the Independents – 3rd Political Party Gets Election Go-Ahead in Oregon

The Office of the Oregon State Secretary of State has announced there will be a third political party participating in primary elections.

Because the number of registered voters who call themselves Independent now has climbed to at least 5% of all Oregon voters, the party can now participate.

Election officials, including Secretary of State Kate Brown, will re-examine the voter rolls again in August to double-check the numbers, but it's expected to hold steady if not grow.

This means The Independent Party of Oregon will join the GOP and Democrats in the May 2016 statewide primary. Whichever positions the party chooses to have someone run for, they will appear on the ballot.

This is big news for Oregon, because unlike Washington state, they operate with a closed primary system.  In Washington, anyone from any political party can file to run for office, and can and will appear on the primary ballot. However, in Oregon, until this new Independent designation, only GOP or Democratic candidates could appear in the primaries.

That explains why on your Washington primary ballot, you will see numerous candidates from different parties seeking election - usually for state or federal office. But once the primaries occur, most of the fringe candidates are eliminated. But Independents have scored big and done well in many elections in other states.