Sisters man tries to get on ballot

Published 5:00 am Saturday, August 7, 2010

A man who lives outside Sisters and wants to run for governor is still looking for a way onto the November ballot, and is now putting his hope in an Aug. 10 convention.

Richard Esterman, 54, had hoped to receive the Independent Party’s nomination through an online primary election. But that nomination vote, which ended July 30, went to Democratic nominee John Kitzhaber. Of the 2,214 votes cast in the online election, Esterman received 438 and Kitzhaber received 850.

There are three ways to get on the general election ballot. Esterman can collect 18,000 signatures to appear as a single candidate; be nominated by a minority party like the Independent Party; or assemble 1,000 people in the same place and at the same time and have them sign a petition, called an assembly of electors.

That’s Esterman’s plan.

He’ll hold a convention from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Tony’s Hay Depot on Tumalo Road in Bend.

1,000 voter signatures

Esterman’s goal is to get at least 1,000 registered voters to attend his convention and stay while they sign a petition that will result in his nomination.

“You’re not voting, it’s just a nomination so I can be on the ballot,” he said.

Carla Corbin, a compliance specialist from the Oregon Secretary of State’s Election Division, said there will be representatives from her office on hand at the event.

“We’re required by law to oversee the process and ensure there are 1,000 people gathered together at one time and that they stay in that confined area until the nomination is completed,” she said.

It’s an uncommon method of getting on the ballot, Corbin said.

“In the six-and-a-half years I’ve been here it’s happened one time with Ralph Nader,” she said. That time, a group in Oregon tried to get Nader on the ballot by collecting signatures; when that failed, they chose a building in Portland and got 1,000 registered voters to sign the petition.

“It doesn’t usually happen,” Corbin said.

Believe it’s doable

But it might be Esterman’s last chance to get on the ballot as a candidate for governor.

“I want to prove it can be done,” he said.

Esterman said the process is important to him.

“I believe in the state constitution, I believe it should be followed and it shouldn’t be altered. And I’m going through this process because yeah, I want to run for governor, but I’m taking the hard road because I’m tired of party differences,” he said. “That way even if I succeed, great. But even if I don’t succeed I’m going to be fighting the state to go back to the constitution and to be fair.”

If you go…

What: Assembly of Electors convention to nominate Richard Esterman for gubernatorial candidate

When: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Aug. 10

Where: Tony’s Hay Depot, 21235 Tumalo Rd., Bend

Contact: Call 541-549-8905 or e-mail wethepeople1859@aol.com