Oregon — Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read is asking state lawmakers to provide $1.25 million in emergency funding for additional ballot drop boxes, statewide ballot tracking and maintenance of the state’s inactive voter list.
Read presented the request Wednesday during testimony before a legislative budget subcommittee. The proposal received unanimous support from the subcommittee and is scheduled to go before the Oregon Legislature’s Emergency Board on Thursday, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The largest portion of the request, $618,000, would purchase 20 official ballot drop boxes and cover expenses associated with increased drop-box use. The Secretary of State’s Office said a statewide study identified locations where additional boxes could improve voters’ access.
Specific locations were not identified in the announcement. Installation would require coordination with county and local officials, and the office said it would seek to have as many boxes as possible operating before the Nov. 3 general election.
Another $154,000 would expand BallotTrax, an optional ballot-notification service, to voters statewide. The service sends updates when a ballot is mailed, received by a county elections office and accepted for counting after signature verification.
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Five Oregon counties currently offer the service, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The remaining $480,000 would allow counties to mail notification cards to inactive voters as part of an effort to remove outdated information from voter-registration records. Inactive voters are not mailed ballots and do not affect election results, but the office said the notices would help counties maintain accurate records.
“Our goal is simple: every eligible Oregonian should have a clear and dependable way to cast a ballot and be confident that their vote gets counted,” Read said. “Expanding drop box access and providing a means for voters to track their ballot are some of the tools we have to protect Oregonians’ right to vote.”
The Secretary of State’s Office characterized the funding as a response to federal actions affecting election administration. Read has also urged voters to use official drop boxes when possible or mail completed ballots at least one week before Election Day amid concerns about postal delays. A federal executive order targeting aspects of mail voting remains the subject of litigation.
Oregon’s general election is Nov. 3. Mailed ballots must carry a valid postmark by Election Day, while ballots returned through an official drop box must be deposited by 8 p.m., according to the state’s election calendar
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