Oregon Secretary of State orders Independent Party to halt fundraising linked to nominations

Oregonian:

Secretary of State Kate Brown on Monday forced the Independent Party of Oregon to stop offering potential party nominations to candidates in tandem with a fundraising pitch for the fast-growing minor party.

Brown sent the 54,600-member party a "cease-and-desist letter" and warned that party leaders are "dangerously close to crossing the line into criminal activity."

Linda Williams, chairwoman of the Independent Party, denied that her party was making nominations contingent on donations. She said the party wanted to put the nominations up to a vote of the full party membership and was only trying to raise money to conduct such an election.

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