“I will tell you, frankly, some of the minor parties are not excited about that,” Elzinga said. “They like the current process, and so we don’t feel it’s appropriate to require them to do so, but to give them that option at least at that time, I think is a good starting point.”

The state would pay about $140,000 to run the nonaffiliated primary every election year, and $140,000 per minor party that chooses to participate in a state-funded primary.

Richardson’s proposal is now before the Senate Rules Committee, where its fate is uncertain.

Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, chairs the committee.

“That’s undecided,” a spokesman for Burdick said in an email Friday. “Basically it’s too early to tell for sure.”

Zundel is clear-eyed about the obstacle his idea faces in a Legislature where all legislators represent the major parties.

“Making it easier for nonaffiliated candidates to get on the ballot is going to increase the possibility that they’ll have competition,” Zundel said. “And I think they’re less afraid of competition, per se, and more afraid of splitting the vote, causing somebody to lose an election who may have had a majority if there wasn’t another candidate in the race.”

Reporter Claire Withycombe: cwithycombe@eomediagroup.com or 971-304-4148. Withycombe is a reporter for the East Oregonian working for the Oregon Capital Bureau, a collaboration of EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group, and Salem Reporter.

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