Secretary of State remains silent over ballot delays
Oregon House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) is calling for the Secretary of State to appear before the Rules Committee for a hearing on May 31 to answer questions about the chain of custody issues surrounding the return of
completed ballots.
Earlier this week, county clerks and the Secretary of State (SOS) engaged with the US Postal Service to
determine why the USPS held up completed, mail-in ballots instead of turning them into the elections offices. Despite multiple inquiries, the SOS has failed to answer precisely how many ballots were affected, how many counties were affected, and what election
officials are doing to prevent the problem from happening in the future.
“Oregonians deserve to have full faith and trust in our elections system, and it is the
Secretary of State’s job to establish and maintain that faith and trust,” said Helfrich.
“However, as of this writing, the Secretary of State’s office has yet to share precise
details of both the problems that occurred and the planned remedy. The people of
Oregon deserve answers in full view of the public to these fundamental questions.”
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
The following letter was sent to House Democrat leadership.
Dear Speaker Fahey and Chair Bowman:
As Vice-Chair of the House Rules Committee, I am requesting that you invite the Oregon
Secretary of State to the committee hearing on Friday, May 31, 2024. In light of the recent
issues arising over completed ballots not being delivered to county elections offices by the
United States Postal Service, I feel it is necessary to hear directly from the Secretary of State.
Oregonians deserve to have full faith and trust in our elections system, and it is the Secretary of
State’s job to establish and maintain that faith and trust. Even today, as I write this letter, the
Secretary of State is using the hashtag #TrustedInfo2024 on social media. However, as of this
writing, the Secretary of State’s office has yet to share any details or plan to prevent these same
delays in the November general election. How can we trust their silence?
In a recent Oregon Public Broadcasting article, Molly Woon, the state’s elections director said
“In no uncertain terms, they [USPS representatives] have said, ‘We will fix this. This should not
be happening.’ We continue to have complete faith in the vote-by-mail system.” I look forward to
hearing how the SOS and USPS will fix this. Unless I hear a specific plan to prevent similar
delays, I find it hard to blindly have the same “complete faith” in the vote-by-mail system.
At a bare minimum, we wish to hear answers to the following questions:
- How many ballots were affected and which counties experienced delays?
- Specifically, what actions were taken to remedy the current situation?
- How will the SOS ensure these same delays don’t occur for the November election?
I look forward to receiving an update from the Secretary of State during a House Rules
Committee hearing.
Sincerely,
Jeff Helfrich
House Republican Leader
--Donna Bleiler| Post Date: 2024-05-17 16:50:52 | Last Update: 2024-05-19 13:26:01 |
