Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Oregon

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Note: This article is not intended to serve as a guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

This page contains extensive information about ballot access requirements for state and federal candidates running for elected office in the state of Oregon. Offices included are:

• United States Congress
• State executive offices (e.g., governor)
• Oregon State Legislature

In order to get on the ballot in Oregon, a candidate for state or federal office must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses, and the general election.

There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.

1. An individual can seek the nomination of a state-recognized political party.
2. An individual can run as an independent. Independent candidates often must petition in order to have their names printed on the general election ballot.
3. An individual can run as a write-in candidate.

This article outlines the steps that prospective candidates for state-level and congressional office must take in order to run for office in Oregon. For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, click here. Information about filing requirements for local-level offices is not available in this article (contact state election agencies for information about local candidate filing processes).

Year-specific dates

2015

See also: Oregon elections, 2015

There are no regularly scheduled state executive, state legislative or congressional elections in Oregon in 2015.

2014

To view historical information for 2014, click [show] to expand the section.

See also: Oregon elections, 2014 Oregon held a primary election on May 20, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014. Voters elected candidates to serve in the following state and federal offices: Governor of Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries 5 seats in the United States House of Representatives 1 seat in the United States Senate 60 seats in the Oregon House of Representatives 15 seats in the Oregon State Senate The 2014 filing deadline for candidates participating in the state primary was March 11, 2014. For those candidates seeking ballot access only in the November general election, the filing deadline was August 26, 2014. Legend:      Ballot access     Campaign finance     Election date Dates and requirements for candidates in 2014 Deadline Event type Event description 30th day after the date of the transaction Campaign finance Reporting deadline for campaign finance transactions conducted on or before March 8, 2014 (primary election) March 11, 2014 Ballot access Filing deadline for candidates seeking to participate in the primary April 15, 2014 Campaign finance Reporting deadline for campaign finance transactions conducted between March 9 and April 7 (primary election) 7th day after the date of transaction Campaign finance Reporting deadline for campaign finance transactions conducted between April 8 and May 20 (primary election) May 20, 2014 Election date State primary date 30th day after the date of transaction Campaign finance Reporting deadline for campaign finance transactions conducted on or before August 23, 2014 (general election) August 26, 2014 Ballot access Filing deadline for candidates seeking to participate in the November general election (unaffiliated and minor party candidates) September 30, 2014 Campaign finance Reporting deadline for campaign finance transactions conducted between August 24 and September 22 (general election) 7th day after the date of transaction Campaign finance Reporting deadline for campaign finance transactions conducted between September 23 and November 4 (general election) November 4, 2014 Election date General election

Political parties

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of February 2015, there were nine recognized political parties in Oregon. These are listed in the table below.

Oregon statutes distinguish between "major" and "minor" political parties. A political party is considered "major" if at least 5 percent of the number of electors registered in the state are registered as members of the party no later than the 275th day before the date of a primary election.

Any political party that does not meet this requirement but polled for any one of its candidates at least 1 percent of the total votes cast in the last general election for either President or any single partisan state office to be voted upon by the state at large is considered a "minor" party.

Party	Website link	By-laws/platform link
Republican Party	Official party website	Party platform
Libertarian Party	Official party website	Party platform
Democratic Party	Official party website	Party by-laws
Pacific Green Party	Official party website	Party platform
Progressive Party	Official party website	Party platform
Working Families Party	Official party website	Party platform
Independent Party	Official party website	Party by-laws
Americans Elect Party	National party website
Constitution Party	Official party website	Party platform

In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. A political party designation would be used when a candidate qualifies as an independent but prefers to use a different label. Oregon does not allow candidates to identify in this way. A total of 22 states allow candidates to use political party designations in non-presidential elections.

The 11 states listed below (including Washington, D.C.) do not provide a process for political organizations to gain qualified status in advance of an election. Instead, in these states, an aspirant party must first field candidates using party designations. If the candidate or candidates win the requisite votes, the organization may then be recognized as an official political party. In these states, a political party can be formed only if the candidate in the general election obtains a specific number of votes. The number of votes required and type of race vary from state to state. Details can be found on the state-specific requirements pages.

• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• New Jersey
• New York

• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Washington, D.C.

Process to establish a political party

See statutes: Chapter 248, Section 008 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

In order to qualify as a new minor party, a group of electors must file with the secretary of state a petition with signatures equaling at least 1.5% of the total votes cast for all candidates for governor at the most recent election at which a candidate for governor was elected to a full term.

The petition must state the intention to form a new party and provide a designation for the party. Before circulating, the petition's sponsor must file with the secretary of state a signed copy of the prospective petition. The completed petition must be filed no later than two years after the date the prospective petition is filed.

According to Oregon Revised Statutes Section 248.008, in order to maintain qualified minor party status, a party meet the following thresholds:

“

(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.

”

A minor party is required to file a copy of its organizational documents with the filing officer (i.e., the secretary of state) no later than 30 days after they are adopted by the party. All minor parties select candidates for office by nominating convention. Only major parties as defined by the state may participate in primaries.

Process to become a candidate

Figure 1: This is the Candidate Filing Form for major party and nonpartisan candidates.

For major party candidates

See statutes: Chapter 249, Sections 020, 068 and 056 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

A major party candidate can gain access to the ballot via one of two methods: by paying a filing fee or by filing a nominating petition.

Filing fee

A candidate of a major party can have his or her name printed on the ballot by filing a declaration of candidacy with the Oregon Secretary of State and paying the requisite filing fees. Filing fees are as follows:

Filing fees for major party candidates in Oregon
Office sought	Fee
United States Senator	$150
Governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, labor and industries commissioner, United States Representative	$100
State senator and state representative	$25

Nominating petition

A candidate of a major party can have his or her name printed on the ballot by filing a nominating petition with the Oregon Secretary of State. Signature requirements are as follows:

Petition signature requirements for major party candidates in Oregon
Office sought	Required signatures
United States Representative	The lesser of 1,000 signatures or 2 % of the number of votes cast in the district for president by members of the candidate’s party
Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, United States Senator	The lesser of 1,000 signatures or 2 % of the number of votes cast for president by members of the candidate’s party
State Senator & State Representative	The lesser of 500 signatures or 2 % of the number of votes cast in the district for president by members of the candidate’s party

For minor party candidates

Recognized minor parties (as defined in this article) are not permitted to participate in primary elections and instead must select candidates by nominating convention.

For unaffiliated candidates

An unaffiliated candidate can gain access to the ballot via one of two methods: nomination by individual electors or nomination by an assembly of electors.

Nomination by individual electors

See statutes: Chapter 249, Section 740 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

An unaffiliated candidate must submit the appropriate filing form with the Oregon Secretary of State and obtain approval to circulate the nominating petition prior to collecting signatures. Once approval has been obtained, circulators must gather signatures equal to at least 1 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for presidential electors in the most recent general election within the electoral district for which the nomination is being sought.

Nomination by assembly of electors

See statutes: Chapter 249, Section 735 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

The process for nomination by assembly of electors is described below:

• File Preliminary Certificate: Submit a draft certificate (minus signatures) to the Secretary of State, including a statement on paid circulators.
• Announce Assembly: Not later than 10 days before a single‑day, 12‑hour meeting, publish notice once in three local newspapers; include date/time, office(s), and 25 or more petitioning electors.
• Hold Assembly: Convene at the published time and place with the statutory minimum voters (250 for local/state legislative; 500 for U.S. House; 1,000 for statewide/U.S. Senate), record each elector’s name/address and votes in the minutes.
• Finalize Nomination: File the certified minutes and publication affidavit with the Secretary of State (or county clerk); signatures in the minutes are then verified and the nomination is accepted.

Signature requirements for nomination by an assembly of electors are described in the table below.

Signature requirements for nomination by an assembly of electors in Oregon
Office sought	Required signatures
United States Representative	500 signatures obtained at the assembly
Governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, United States Senator	1,000 signatures obtained at the assembly
State senator and state representative	250 signatures obtained at the assembly

For write-in candidates

Write-in candidates are not required to submit candidate filing forms in advance. In the event that a write-in candidate is nominated or elected, the election official will notify the candidate by sending a write-in acceptance form. To accept the nomination or office, the candidate must complete, sign, and return the form to the election official.

Petition requirements

In some cases, candidates may need to obtain signatures via the petition process to gain access to the ballot. This section outlines the laws and regulations pertaining to petitions and circulators in Oregon.

Format requirements

The Oregon Secretary of State produces official petition templates that candidates for state office must use. Signature sheets must be printed on standard 8.5-inch by 11-inch paper. The paper must be at least 20 pounds and uncoated. The sheets may be printed on white or colored paper stock, provided that election officials are able to verify signatures easily.

Signature requirements

Signers of candidate petitions are required to provide an original signature and residence or mailing address. Signers are further encouraged to print their names and the date signed. If the petition is for the nomination of a major party candidate, the signer must be a member of the same political party as the candidate. Only active registered voters may sign any petition.

Circulation requirements

Circulators must personally witness each signature collected and complete a circulator certification after witnessing all signatures collected on a sheet. Circulators may be paid or unpaid, but the signature sheet must note the pay status of the circulator. The relevant statutes do not note additional requirements that circulators must meet (including residency requirements).

Campaign finance

Campaign finance requirements

See statutes: Chapter 260 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

A candidate must form a candidate committee, unless he or she meets all of the following conditions:

1. The candidate elects to serve as his or her own treasurer.
2. The candidate does not have an existing candidate committee.
3. The candidate does not expect to receive or spend more than $750 during a calendar year (including personal funds).

A candidate committee must file with the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State a Statement of Organization within three business days of first receiving a contribution or making an expenditure. Statements of Organization may be filed electronically via ORESTAR (Oregon Election System for Tracking and Reporting). The Statement of Organization may also be filed in print format by mailing, faxing, or hand-delivering the requisite forms. A form including campaign account information must accompany the Statement of Organization.

All candidate committees must establish a dedicated campaign account that meets all of the following standards:

• The account must be established in a financial institution located in Oregon.
• The account must be maintained in the name of the committee.
• All expenditures made by the committee must be drawn from the account and issued via check, debit card or other means of electronic transmission.
• All contributions must be deposited into the campaign account within seven days of receipt.
• The account can only include contributions or money from other contributions received by the committee.

The candidate committee must designate a treasurer, who in turn must sign and file the Statement of Organization. The candidate may serve as his or her own committee treasurer.

Generally speaking, the candidate and treasurer are responsible for the following:

• establishing a dedicated campaign account in accordance with the previously stated requirements and filing a Statement of Organization
• signing and filing transaction reports
• keeping detailed financial records current to within seven days of each contribution or expenditure
• preserving records for each transaction for at least two years after the date of the transaction

Candidate committees that expect to receive $3,500 or more in a calendar year are required to report all "transactions" via ORESTAR. Transactions include contributions, expenditures, other contributions and disbursements and all other committee financial activities. Generally, transaction reports are due no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the transaction, though there are times when transaction reports are due within seven calendar days of the date of the transaction.

A candidate committee that does not expect to receive more than $3,500 in contributions or make more than $3,500 in expenditures is required to file a Statement of Organization and designate a campaign bank account, but does not have to file transactions via ORESTAR. Instead, the committee must file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures. This form may be filed electronically via ORESTAR or may be submitted on paper.

Contribution limits

There are no limits placed on campaign contributions in Oregon.

Election-related agencies

See also: State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

• Oregon Secretary of State - Elections Division
  

Why: This agency provides and processes candidate filing forms for federal and statewide offices. This agency also processes campaign finance reports.

255 Capitol Street NE, Suite 501

Salem, OR 97310-1306

Phone: 503.986.1518

Fax: 503.373.7414

TTY: 1.800.735.2900

Website: http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/

Email: elections.sos@state.or.us

Term limits

State executives

See also: State executives with term limits and States with gubernatorial term limits

State executive term limits are established in Article 5, Section 1 and Article 6, Section 1 of the Oregon Constitution. The state executive term limits in Oregon are as follows:

• The governor may serve a total of two terms and is eligible for eight out of any period of 12 years.
• The secretary of state may serve a total of two terms and is eligible for eight out of any period of 12 years.
• The treasurer may serve a total of two terms and is eligible for eight out of any period of 12 years.

There were no state executives who were term-limited in 2014.

State legislators

See also: State legislatures with term limits

There are no term limits placed on Oregon state legislators.

Congressional partisanship

See also: List of United States Representatives from Oregon and List of United States Senators from Oregon

Here is the current partisan breakdown of the congressional members from Oregon:

Oregon congressional partisan composition

Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	5	7
Republican	0	1	1
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	6	8

State legislative partisanship

Here is the current partisan breakdown of members of the state legislature of Oregon:

Senate

Partisan composition, Oregon State Senate

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	18
Republican	12
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	30

House

Partisan composition, Oregon House of Representatives

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	37
Republican	23
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	60

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "Oregon + ballot + access"

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Oregon ballot access news feed

See also

• Oregon elections, 2014
• Campaign finance requirements for Oregon ballot measures
• Oregon signature requirements
• State election agencies
• Counties in Oregon
• State executives with term limits
• States with gubernatorial term limits
• Oregon state executive official elections, 2014
• State legislatures with term limits
• List of United States Representatives from Oregon
• List of United States Senators from Oregon

External links

Official state and federal links

• Official Website of the Oregon Secretary of State
• Official Website of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission
• Official Website of the Federal Election Commission
• FEC 2014 Primary Election Dates and Candidate Filing Deadlines
• Oregon Election Laws
• Statewide Initiative and Referendum Manual
• 2014 Election Calendar

Forms

• Candidate Filing - Major Political Party or Nonpartisan
• Minor Political Party Candidate Filing
• Write-In Candidate Acceptance Form
• Petition to Establish a Political Party
• Statement of Organization for Candidate Committee Form

Other information

• Ballot Access News -- News updates and analysis of ballot access issues
• Politics1
• ThirdPartyPolitics.us -- a blog about American third party and independent politics
• RangeVoting.org -- a listing of notably restrictive ballot access requirements
• Center for Competitive Politics, "Election Law Handbook," Winter 2013
• National Voter Outreach -- a political consulting firm that specializes in organizing petition signature drives