OR Elections Division shuts down its phone lines
By Terry Murry on Friday, October 18th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News Featured Stories More Top Stories
SALEM – The Secretary of State Elections Division closed its phone lines Thursday after the system was overwhelmed by out-of-state callers responding to false information circulating on social media. At issue was the fact that Donald Trump did not submit a statement to the Oregon voters’ pamphlet.
Social media posts have been claiming this to be election interference. Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said the decision was made by the Trump campaign. Trump is on the ballot but the Oregon Republican Party chose not to pay to have Trump’s statement printed in the pamphlet.
“Oregonians who need assistance will now have to wait because some individuals operating in bad faith are misleading people online,” Griffin-Valade said in a prepared statement. “We need to do more as a country to discourage this kind of behavior. Spreading rumors and false claims of election interference does nothing to help Oregonians.”
Oregon voters needing assistance can find information online at OregonVotes.gov and contact the Elections Division via email at election.sos@sos.oregon.gov. Oregon voters requiring assistance can leave a voicemail at the Elections Division and their calls will be prioritized for return.
Under Oregon law (ORS 166.065), it is a crime to harass or threaten an election worker while they are working or because they did their job.
