Union County League of Women Voters Hosts Town Hall with Secretary of State Tobias Read at Eastern Oregon University on April 27

Where: La Grande High School Auditorium, 708 K Avenue, La Grande.

When: April 27, 2026 at 6 pm. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Use this link to submit advance questions: HTTPS://tinyurl.com/AskTobias

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read and Dustin Ellis, voter services lead for the League of Women Voters Union County, will speak on Oregon Election Integrity and “The Life of a Ballot” in Union County, setting the stage for a robust dialogue on elections and to answer questions that attendees may have about the voting process, including which candidates and issues will appear on their primary ballot.

Secretary Read and Dr. Ellis will answer questions from the public. Questions are requested in advance and may be edited to reduce duplicate questions, and ensure civility and nonpartisanship. Issues with the greatest number of questions will receive the highest priority.

“Our League chapter is thrilled that Tobias Read is coming to meet with us in person, and that Dr. Ellis can speak to our local elections. We have been hearing from people who are concerned that their votes could be altered by a machine, that non-citizens are voing and that married women could be required to get a passport in order to vote,” said Marty Power, LWV Union County unit coordinator. “We think it’s critical to get these questions out in the open and help eligible voters feel secure in exercising their constitutional right to vote.”

League of Women Voters meetings and events embrace the principles of civil discourse, focused on listening with respect to all viewpoints, reducing misinformation and disinformation and steering clear of partisan or character attacks. LWV does not support or oppose any political party or candidate, and therefore does not allow political hats, t-shirts, signs, flyers, campaign materials or pins at its events.

Candidates for office are encouraged to attend the town hall, but will not be granted speaking time and may not bring campaign materials.

Volunteers from the Union County County LWV Unit will be available to share information before the town hall on the League’s nonpartisan voter registration and education platform, VOTE411. VOTE411 includes candidate responses to LWV questions, as well as details on ballot drop box sites and links to candidate forums.

For more information about the LWV Union County Unit, reach out to Marty Power, lwvunioncounty@lwvor.org or call Marty at 217-871-1889.

This event is supported by the American Democracy Project at Eastern Oregon University. For more information on the ADP contact Dr. Dustin Ellis dkellis@eou.edu.

Also on the League schedule:

LWV Union County is hosting a watch party April 30, 5:30 pm at EOU in Ackerman Hall room 210 for a first-ever League of Women Voters bipartisan CD2 congressional candidates’ forum moderated by award-winning Oregon journalist Les Zaitz. Eight of the nine candidates have confirmed their attendance. For more information, reach out to CD2LWV@gmail.com Frequently Asked Questions on the April 30 forum are available here: FAQs for CD2 Candidates Forum

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About the presenters:

Tobias Read is Oregon’s 30th secretary of state. Born in Montana and raised in Idaho, he moved to Salem, Oregon to attend Willamette University before earning his Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Washington. He brings a wide range of public-sector and private-sector experience to the office. He worked at the U.S. Treasury and Nike, Inc. prior to his election as state representative in 2007 and state treasurer in 2017.

As an elected official, Tobias has turned strong ideas and policies into real results that benefit Oregonians. He helped lead the charge to fund full-day kindergarten across Oregon, created and later implemented the Oregon Retirement Savings Program—now known as OregonSaves— which serves more than 130,000 Oregonians, and protected the Elliott State Forest by making it one of the largest research forests and carbon reserves in North America.

As Secretary of State, Tobias’ first priority is to hold the State of Oregon accountable for delivering on its promises, managing tax dollars wisely, and running secure, fair elections.

Tobias lives in Beaverton with his wife Heidi and their two children.

Dr. Dustin Ellis is an assistant professor teaching poli2cal science, history and public administration at Eastern Oregon University, and leads the Voter Services workgroup for the League of Women Voters Union county. He serves as interim director for the American Democracy Project at EOU. The nonpartisan ADP works with nearly 300 colleges and universities across the US, working to engage students as civic leaders and bridgebuilders in our democracy. Ellis also serves as an affiliated faculty member with the Rural Engagement & Vitality Center at EOU.