State’s Independent Party conducts an online election

[roxiejules]

An experimental primary

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/opinion/25006049-47/party-independent-primary-candidates-election.csp

No minor party in Oregon has ever conducted a primary election before. No party of any description in Oregon, major or minor, has conducted an election via the Internet. No Oregon party has ever conducted a primary election at its own expense. The Independent Party of Oregon is currently doing all three. The experiment could change both elections and politics in the state and beyond.

Starting last week, the Independent Party’s 55,000 registered members began receiving mailed notices inviting them to cast electronic ballots to choose the party’s nominees for the November general election. Voters must cast ballots by July 30.

Each Independent voter will receive a pass code providing access to a ballot listing candidates seeking the party’s nomination for statewide office and in congressional and legislative districts. The election is being conducted for the party by the company that provides online remote voting services for members of the armed forces.

In addition to casting votes for candidates, Independent primary voters will be invited to respond to a survey asking their opinions about party positions and priorities. The party will be able to present its nominees with the survey results, and say that the voters expect nominees to act in ways that are congruent with party members’ views. The ballot will thus become an instrument not only for the choice of candidates, but also the expression of policy preferences.