Oregon's Election Law Passes the Test
DOTY, JANET R.
NATIONAL REPORTS Oregon's Election Law Passes the Test By Janet R. Doty Portland It is not very often that a candidate loses the primary and then wins the general election, especially on the...
...4, was declared nominated...
...Corbett's literature was questioned in other quarters...
...Corbett and Senator Cook, the incumbent, filed for the Democratic nomination to Position No...
...In was quite a decision to make," he explained...
...Corbett violated the "false statements" law^ it ruled, not because she used the word "re-elect" but because she used re-elect in reference to a Position Number she had never held...
...4. Despite their party ties, the two have widely divergent political philosophies...
...So it is not surprising that a conflict of opinion, this time centering around what a candidate can legally say about himself in his campaign literature, was at the root of their controversy...
...Corbett, during her four years in office, tended to vote with a conservative coalition of Republicans and Democrats...
...In the long run...
...Corbett's view...
...By the time she and her lawyer had prepared and delivered the new copy, though, the pamphlet had gone to press and the change could not be made...
...Other instances of such practices abound, demonstrating the need for all-embracing "false statement" laws throughout the country...
...Corbett's violation was both important and deliberate...
...I might have won.'" Cook further insists that he was motivated by the principle involved: "I believe that using false and misleading statements in one's own advertising is a modern type of corrupt practice, as opposed to the old concepts of corrupt practices which included out-and-out buying of votes, exorbitant campaign expenditures, or tampering with ballot boxes...
...She had argued the offense could be important only if it could be proved that her advertising affected the outcome of the election...
...Corbett's slogans seemed to suggest she had been the senator from Position No...
...4 Her television announcements followed the same pattern: Re-elect Corbett State Senator Position No...
...Tom Judge, used the slogan "Here comes the Judge...
...If objections are entered, the candidate would be on notice that his right to office would be challenged...
...Bob Packwood...
...4. when the only seat she had held was Position No...
...It helps to establish an extremely high standard in politics and campaigning...
...Oregon just amended ORS 260.380 in 1967 to make clear that the false statements law applied to a candidate himself...
...According to Oregon law, she will not be able to run for any office until the term of the office she sought expires...
...4, Democrat "I felt Mrs...
...In the primary, Mrs...
...As required by the state law, Vernon Cook, the next highest vote getter for Position No...
...In Oklahoma, for example, a man who had been fired as municipal judge and then ran for associate district judge used the following in his campaign literature: Associate District JUDGE E. B. Lee The Montana lieutenant governor-elect...
...A Washington law simply says the person inserting a paid advertisement must warrant its truth...
...8. Last spring, however, both Mrs...
...The Oregon Supreme Court disagreed, overturning the Circuit Court decision on September 25, 1968...
...ALICE CORBETT Under the new rules, one Democrat and one Republican run against each other for each Position Number to which a county is entitled...
...Then the court battle began...
...who defeated U.S...
...Corbett's implication of incumbency constituted a significant violation...
...Corbett is a former state senator from Multnomah, her last of two consecutive terms having expired in January 1967...
...But it is critical to our system of government, and the Court's decision was a significant step in that direction...
...Secretary of State Clay Myers has referred several complaints to the district attorneys in various counties, but these have not yet reached the courts...
...In accepting this definition of "important," the Court rejected Mrs...
...The material she provided for the Oregon voter's pamphlet included the statements: "Re-elect Senator Corbett because . . . ." and "Senator Alice Corbett will continue to oppose . . . ." When he read this, the district attorney from Marion County (where the pamphlet was published) sent the candidate a letter that said in part: "My suggestion would be that you take immediate steps to correct your campaign material, as well as the voter's pamphlet material, and eliminate therefrom both the words 're-elect' and the title 'Senator' from both your name and your committee...
...Corbett consulted a lawyer and, while she maintained that the wording was proper, submitted a change for the pamphlet that read: "Re-elect Alice Corbett...
...George Wingard, a candidate for state representative from Lane County, hastily spray-painted a "for" on small billboards bearing the slogan, "Wingard/State Representative...
...Janet R. Doty, an Oregon freelance writer, is a new contributor...
...4; Mrs...
...He thus gave many people the impression that he was a judge...
...which regulates elections and political campaigns...
...The Corrupt Practices Act was passed 'to secure the purity of the ballot,'" Justice McAllister wrote...
...The proof that Mrs...
...In contrast to the lower court, the Supreme Court found that Mrs...
...Now that it has been taken, the rest of the country might be well advised to follow Oregon's example...
...Whether or not the courts will go so far as to throw out the results of the general election where they are challenged is a big question...
...NATIONAL REPORTS Oregon's Election Law Passes the Test By Janet R. Doty Portland It is not very often that a candidate loses the primary and then wins the general election, especially on the same party's ticket...
...But no action was brought at that time, and the questionable literature continued to be used...
...But under Oregon law it can happen, and this past November in Portland it did...
...Few politicians will consciously falsify their literature in this state without thinking twice about the consequences...
...California and Michigan forbid non-incumbents to imply incumbency of positions they are seeking...
...Corbett had made false statements, she would be subject to prosecution...
...Corbett...
...This, in turn, should help Oregonians choose the most qualified candidates for public office...
...8. If Senator Cook could prove Mrs...
...A flurry of anxious activity was set off by the successful Supreme Court test...
...With the general election campaign in full swing, several candidates for local and state offices quickly changed their literature...
...In May, Mrs...
...In 1965, when they were in the Senate together, the Legislature changed Oregon's election laws...
...Vernon Cook and Alice Cor-bett were the principals in a primary and court contest that seems likely to inspire similar cases, promises to change Oregon political campaigns, and points up a deficiency in virtually every other states' election laws...
...Whatever the ultimate answer, Alice Corbett feels the decision against her was "a bad thing because it overturned an election and denied the people their choice [of candidate...
...After consultation with a personal injury lawyer, I came to the conclusion that her statements would be held false in court...
...The decision," he says, "is healthy...
...Since she did not change her campaign material even after receiving the letter from the Marion County district attorney, she knowingly circulated false material...
...The Court therefore set aside Alice Corbett's nomination...
...Senator...
...Justice William McAllister said: "We know that most, if not all, incumbents believe, as Corbett believed, that incumbency is important...
...Under the previous system, a county with five seats had five Republicans and five Democrats running at large in a free-for-all, with the top five vote getters declared the winners—a procedure hardly conducive to party harmony...
...To require the plaintiff in every case of a corrupt practices act violation to prove the violation affected the outcome of the election would render the act worthless and impossible of enforcement...
...In any event, it will certainly be difficult for Mrs...
...Oregon Revised Statute 260.380, unique to the state, declares that any person writing, printing or circulating false statements in paid political advertising in any media, about a candidate or about himself, is guilty of a corrupt political practice...
...All seven are similar to the Wisconsin statute, which declares the author of a false statement reflecting on a candidate's character, morality or integrity guilty of a corrupt practice...
...The campaign statements were false, he said, but the violation was neither deliberate nor important enough to justify prosecution...
...I was concerned about people saying I was picking on a woman," he declared, "and besides I was running pretty well anyway...
...In fact, only 10 states besides Oregon have laws pertaining to false advertising, and in seven of these—Alaska, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin—restrictions are limited to a person making false statements concerning someone else, not himself...
...In Multnomah, Cook was assigned Position No...
...Senator...
...The 27 candidates for re-election who advertised in the Oregon voter's pamphlet emphasized their incumbency...
...Cook vs...
...Consequently, the Court held, Mrs...
...If incumbency is important to candidates it is material...
...Senator Cook decided to file suit...
...Now it is much more difficult for experienced people to show the voters their qualifications and experience...
...Interestingly, Senator Cook would modify the Oregon statute to make it harder to bring lawsuits carrying the penalty of removal from office: "I will introduce legislation to require that each candidate be supplied a copy of his opponents' ballot slogans or his opponents' paid ads before they are published...
...Candidates have been getting away with false statements because there hasn't been any legal restriction...
...Corbett highlighted a vigorous campaign with newspaper advertisements that read: Re-elect Corbett State Senator . . . Position No...
...Corbett won the primary by 6,000 votes...
...Senator Cook has gained a reputation as a liberal, independent Democrat...
...Insuring the purity of the election process is at best an arduous task...
...Writing the opinion...
...He was not an incumbent, as his advertising seemed to imply...
...A "false statements" case at the state level, involving the office of attorney general, is also pending...
...Mrs...
...Independently, though, Mrs...
...The law is a part of the Oregon Corrupt Practices Act...
...Corbett, Position No...
...Few states have kept pace with Oregon in updating their corrupt practices acts...
...There was considerable financial risk as far as attorney's fees if I lost...
...But in March, when Senator Cook first questioned his opponent's campaign literature, he did not try to bring a lawsuit...
...Corbett was the first case brought under ORS 260.380, and it went all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court...
...To other candidates the Oregon Supreme Court decision may mean losing a position won in the general election...
...A candidate should have every right to express his candidacy in the strongest terms possible...
...And now that Oregon's statute has survived a vigorous court test, it seems an effective model...
...No price is too high to pay for credibility in public office," Packwood commented in publicizing the change...
...But I kept thinking that if I looked back on this election in years to come I would always think, 'If I'd brought suit...
...Corbett's statements were made deliberately is indisputable," Justice McAllister maintained...
...Corbett...
...For Vernon Cook, the Supreme Court victory has meant another term as senator, since he defeated his Republican opponent...
...Mrs...
...of course, those who will gain most from the Court's decision are the residents of Oregon, to whom it promises more honest and credible political campaigns...
...At the Circuit Court level, the judge ruled for Mrs...
...Senator Cook, an attorney, has been a legislator from Portland in Multnomah County since 1956...
...The Senate term ends January 1, 1973, after the 1972 elections, so she cannot run again for at least six years...
...Corbett's slogans implied she was the incumbent," Senator Cook said...
...Yet even this restriction is more limited in scope than Oregon's, for it cannot be applied to a candidate's false statements about bills sponsored, committee positions held, ad infinitum...
...Senator Wayne Morse, announced he was spending $4,000 extra to insert a "for" in 17.500 signs and 400.000 brochures that read "Bob Packwood/U.S...
Vol. 52 • January 1969 • No. 1
