Lloyd Marbet for Secretary of State
19142 SE Bakers Ferry Road, Boring, Oregon 97009
Phone: (503) 637-3549 Fax: (503) 6376130
E-mail: marbet@mail.com

PRESS RELEASE - PRESS RELEASE - PRESS RELEASE

Secretary of State Bradbury Disenfranchises Voters

Lloyd K. Marbet, the Pacific Green Party's candidate for Secretary of State, today expressed outrage at the decision of the Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury, to refuse to count the 27,000 signatures submitted by Oregon voters who wish to qualify the Natural Law Party as a minor party in Oregon.

"I am not connected with the Natural Law Party, but those 27,000 voters have a right to create a political party in Oregon and not be squashed by a member of the Democratic Party," said Marbet. This is just one of many examples of the Secretary of State imposing crippling restrictions on the petitioning rights of Oregonians and disenfranchising voters.

"There is no legal justification for his refusal to accept these 27,000 signatures, just because one person cannot presently be located. This is an illegal attempt to halt the creation of a political party that the politicians do not want to have around. From their point of view, the fewer choices the voters have on the ballot, the better for them."

Marbet was responding to the decision of the Secretary of State to refuse to accept the 27,000 signatures submitted by supporters of the Natural Law Party to qualify as a "minor political party" in Oregon and therefore be able to nominate candidates to appear on general election ballots. The Secretary of State refused the signatures, because they were not submitted by Spencer Eugene Burton, who happened to be the person who delivered to the Secretary of State in June 1999, the document which started the Party's signature drive. Since then, Mr. Burton has moved and cannot be found. The Secretary of State's office representative was quoted in The Oregonian (April 27) as stating, "The chief petitioner has to submit the petition himself."

"This is just wrong," said Marbet. "The statute (ORS 248.008) does not require the chief petitioner to file the signatures. It requires "the affiliation of electors" to file the signatures. the 'affiliation of electors' is the entity that the people who signed the petitions want to qualify as a minor party. The "affiliation of electors" is the Natural Law Party itself, not some person."

"It is truly amazing what the major party politicians will do to avoid competition from minor parties. They talk about the importance of getting people registered to vote and then turn around and disenfranchise voters when they try to create new political parties. This shows no respect for the voters and no respect at all for voters who sign petitions," Marbet concluded.

-30-


For further information about Lloyd Marbet's campaign for Secretary of State

Please contact Gabriel Larson, Phone: 234-0962 - E-mail: gabriellarson@hotmailcom