Libertarian Party of Oregon 2019 Director Election Rules

Version 1
Approved 2018-12-10
Deadlines amended 2019-01-14

Section I
These rules incorporate all relevant requirements of the LPO Constitution and Bylaws:

  • Article 8 – Elections, Sec 1: Methods of calling election, B. Director Elections
  • Article 8, Sec 2: Rules for Elections, A. General rules that apply to all elections

Section II
These rules incorporate the minimum Wright System requirements set forth in the English version of the “Wright system” Wikipedia article in the form it was edited at 10:08, 30 June 2011, except when those requirements conflict with LPO bylaws or with special rules (section III below) adopted by the LPO Board of Directors.

Section III
These rules include the following, in addition to those incorporated by sections I and II above:

A. Dates 1. Libertarian Party of Oregon director election dates 

  • LPO Filing Deadline: January 31 March 31 – Last day to file candidacy or withdrawal
  • Mailing Date: February 12 April 15 – First day to mail ballots
  • LPO Election Day: March 12 May 14 – Last day to receive returned ballots 

B. General Rules

  1. Director elections will be conducted as securely and transparently as may be practicable, with the goal of exceeding the quality of the Oregon Elections Division's conduct of elections.
  2. Elections will be decided by the Wright system, as modified by LPO rules.
  3. Only eligible members who are still registered as members of the party in the voter list received after the general election will be sent a ballot provided that they meet all other criteria set forth in the bylaws.
  4. An announcement of the director election must be made to all eligible candidates no later than January 1.
    a) At a minimum, this announcement must be placed prominently on the LPO website. The LPO board may use additional methods to announce the election.
    b) This announcement must include the following information:
    1. Eligibility requirements for running.
    2. Instructions for becoming a candidate.
    3. Instructions for submitting a candidate statement.
    4. An overview of the responsibilities of LPO directors.
    5. A statement regarding the ongoing litigation, specifically noting that elected directors might be named as parties in the law suit.
  5. Ballots will be mailed expeditiously to all eligible voters beginning on the Mailing Date.
  6. Returned ballots must be received on or before LPO Election Day to be counted.
  7. The outer return envelope must be signed by the voter and must contain only the voter's single ballot, which may optionally be within the secrecy envelope.
  8. The LPO website will identify, and will be promptly maintained to reflect changes in the list of registered candidates and candidate statements.
  9. Election results shall be posted to the LPO website.

C. Ballot form, enclosures, and mailing

  1. Each ballot will be mailed with an inner secrecy envelope, a larger pre-addressed return envelope, clear instructions for completing the ballot, and printed forms for volunteering or donating to the LPO.
  2. Candidates and statements will be listed on the ballot using the same Alphabetical order that the Oregon Secretary of State used for the immediately previous General Election.
  3. The ballot must include at least nine write-in lines so that voters have the option to write-in a complete slate of nine candidates.
  4. The ballot will include spaces for the voter to assign a ten-digit number for later use by that voter to verify that his ballot was tallied and counted correctly.
  5. The ballot instructions will include a prominent warning of what things could spoil the ballot and cause it not to be counted.
  6. Each ballot line will include a space for the voter to assign a number indicating the voter's order of preference.
  7. The return envelope will be printed with the voter's name, address, a signature line, and a warning that a ballot returned without the voter's signature on the line provided on the return envelope will not be counted, and that only one ballot can be returned in the envelope.
  8. The secrecy envelope will be printed prominently with the warning to put only a single ballot in that envelope.
  9. Volunteer/donation forms to be returned with the ballot must include a clear and prominent warning that they must returned in the outer envelope and not inside the secrecy envelope.
  10. At the discretion of the Board of Directors, the ballot mailing may include a Libertarian Voters' Guide (see section H below).

D. Returned ballot receipt, processing, and storage

  1. Ballots will be received at a secure mailbox.
  2. At least weekly from the Mailing date through LPO Election Day, two or more volunteers approved by the Board of Directors will together open the mailbox and:
    a) Separate ballot return envelopes from any other mail.
    b) Separate “valid returns” from “invalid returns”; a valid return is signed by an eligible Libertarian elector. The procedure for validating returns is not for publication.
    c) [Secretary's note: this clause was deleted for publication.]
    d) Open all valid returns and separate ballots (without opening secrecy envelopes) from other enclosures, storing ballots in portable containers marked with the number of ballots contained and the date of processing.
    e) Reclassify valid returns containing more then one ballot (secrecy envelope) as invalid returns, and set aside the ballots and ballot return envelope together.
    f) Record the senders of valid returns as having voted in this election.
    g) Separate donations and donation forms for processing by the LPO Treasurer.
    h) Separate other enclosures for processing by appropriate LPO officials.
    i) Transport locked ballot containers to a secure location for storage until ballots are counted.
    j) Deliver empty valid return envelopes and enclosures to appropriate LPO officials for processing or storage.
    k) Preserve all invalid returns for later processing.
  3. The LPO Secretary will permanently record which voters submitted valid returns.
  4. The LPO Treasurer will complete ORESTAR reporting of all donations within one week of their receipt.
  5. If more than one thousand valid returns are received prior to LPO Election Day, the LPO Chairperson may direct tellers to begin opening secrecy envelopes and processing ballots prior to that date.

E. Telling – ballot processing

  1. The Board will appoint at least 3 tellers to open ballot secrecy envelopes, process ballots under these rules, resolve questions of legality, legibility or ambiguity of ballot markings, and report election results. Tellers will take care at each processing stage to ensure accuracy and ballot security.
  2. A majority of tellers (at least two) will determine the validity of any questionable markings on ballots. Tellers' rulings are final and cannot be appealed.
  3. Tellers will remove secrecy envelopes from locked containers, verify and record the number received from each container, and begin opening the envelopes.
  4. Empty envelopes and those containing more than one ballot will be set aside and not counted as ballots cast.
  5. A unique database number will be assigned to each singly-returned ballot. Once so numbered, those ballots will be processed as legitimate ballots (hereinafter referenced as “paper ballots”).
  6. At least two tellers will cooperate to record accurately the voter preferences marked on each paper ballot. One will enter information into the electronic ballot form, and the other will verify that information's accuracy and completeness before that record is saved as a completed ballot.
  7. If tellers cannot promptly resolve a question of legality, legibility or ambiguity of the markings in a paper ballot, they will set it aside for later resolution. Such questionable votes will be further processed and counted as votes cast only if their number could affect its outcome.
  8. Blank or illegal votes will not be counted as votes cast.
  9. If a voter marks or writes only one name on a paper ballot, that name will be treated as the voter's first preference.
  10. If a voter marks or writes more than one name on a paper ballot, but tellers cannot determine the voter's intended order of preferences, they will treat it as an illegal vote.
  11. Once all paper ballots without unresolved questions have been recorded and saved as completed ballots, tellers will determine whether any set-aside paper ballots could affect the outcome of the election. Tellers will then make and record final determinations for the applicable portions of any such paper ballots which could affect the outcome, indicate their determinations on those paper ballots, and save those records as completed ballots. All completed ballots will then be processed by the software approved by the LPO Board to generate tellers' reports and determine the director election outcome.
  12. Tellers will certify the accuracy of their reports and the outcome of the election.

F. Post-election storage

  1. Paper ballots will be securely stored in locked containers.
  2. Rejected secrecy envelopes and their contents will be stored in separate locked containers in the same location
  3. Six months after the election is concluded, these stored materials will be recycled or destroyed.

G. Candidates

  1. An eligible person may register as a candidate by any of the following methods:
    a) By sending postal mail to the LPO.
    b) By sending electronic mail to the LPO Chairperson or Secretary.
    c) By publishing their interest on the LPO Facebook group.
  2. A registered candidate may withdraw by any of the methods allowed for registration.
  3. People who were known to be candidates prior to the adoption of these rules are not required to re-register.
  4. Registrations and withdrawals received after the LPO Filing Deadline shall not be processed.
  5. The names and postal addresses of everyone who will receive a ballot in this election will be given, in electronic format, to any registered candidate upon request, beginning two weeks before the LPO Filing Deadline.

H. Libertarian Voters' Guide

  1. The Libertarian Party of Oregon will publish a Libertarian Voters' Guide, similar in purpose and form to the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet.
  2. The Libertarian Voters' Guide shall include statements from candidates for election.
  3. The Libertarian Voters' Guide will be published on the LPO website, and, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, a printed copy included in the ballot mailing.

I. Candidate Statements

  1. Registered candidates may submit a candidate statement for publication in the Libertarian Voters' Guide.
  2. A candidate statement must not exceed 325 words and must be text-only, except for an optional photograph of the candidate. Candidate statements might be reformatted to fit on one half-page when printed.
  3. A candidate photograph must be less than 4 years old and be of the head and shoulders only.
  4. Photographs will be printed in black and white, 1.5” wide and 1.75” high.
  5. Candidate statements may be submitted by postal mail to the LPO or by electronic mail to the LPO Chairperson or Secretary.
  6. Candidate statements will be published in the online version of the Libertarian Voters' Guide without any filing fee. Statements will be published only after the LPO Filing Deadline unless the candidate requests that their statement be published earlier.
  7. To be included in the mailed copy of the Libertarian Voters' Guide, a filing fee of $50 must be paid. If the Libertarian Voters' Guide is only posted on the LPO website, and not mailed, the Board shall fully refund filing fees.
  8. Candidate statements received or paid for after the LPO Filing Deadline shall be considered untimely and shall not be processed.


These rules are also available as a downloadable PDF