Oregon elections official says system is safe, accurate, slams Trump

Oregon’s secretary of state and attorney general said on Election Day the state’s election system remains secure and accurate.

Secretary of State Tobias Read said Oregon’s landmark vote-by-mail system remains the gold standard for election security and accessibility despite cuts to federal funding and operational changes that have affected support for elections.

“Your voice matters, your vote matters,” Read said. “I want to reassure you that Oregon’s elections are secure, Oregon’s elections are accurate, Oregon’s elections are fair and you should feel confident that our system is the gold standard for elections.”

He pointed to steps the state takes to keep elections safe, accurate and secure like tracking ballots with a unique barcode system and verifying signatures. The state’s ballot-counting machines are never connected to the internet and undergo public testing before and after elections, Read added.

Read criticized President Donald Trump and the federal administration’s actions that he said have weakened election security infrastructure. He specifically highlighted cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which Read has repeatedly expressed concerns about.

He said Oregon has worked to offset losses by forming partnerships with the Oregon Titan Fusion Center, the Oregon Military Department and county election officials to strengthen cybersecurity protections and emergency preparedness.

And Read said the state is working to add more drop boxes in the future (there are currently 321 across the state) in response to delays in mail processing.

Rayfield also spoke, saying Oregonians should remain confident in the state’s election integrity despite misinformation surrounding election administration.

“The amount of misinformation that is being spewed across our country within this state is at an all-time high,” Rayfield said. “We have attacks on the integrity and the administration of our elections from elected officials going all the way up to the President of the United States.”

Rayfield said his Department of Justice is “pushing back” and has filed multiple legal challenges in the past year to stop “unconstitutional actions” by Trump. On May 19, a panel of Ninth Circuit judges in Pasadena, California heard oral arguments in one case related to the administration’s efforts to collect voter roll information from Oregon and California.

Voters have until 8 p.m. May 19 to return their ballot. Election officials encouraged Oregonians to use drop boxes to return their ballots on time.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.comon X @DianneLugo or Bluesky @diannelugo.bsky.social