Oregon’s Secretary of State faces potential DOJ investigation over alleged voter record destruction, raising concerns about election integrity and possible Civil Rights Act violations.
At a Glance
- Public Interest Legal Foundation urges DOJ to investigate Oregon for mishandling voter records
- Allegations include destroying records of wrongfully removed voters, violating federal laws
- ERIC database criticized for inaccuracies, including labeling deceased voters as eligible
- Oregon’s DMV mistakenly registered over 300 noncitizens to vote since 2021
- PILF claims federal investigation warranted due to legal requirements for document retention
Calls for DOJ Investigation into Oregon’s Voter Record Handling
The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is pressing the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read’s office. The watchdog group alleges mishandling of voter registration records obtained from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a database designed to assist states in maintaining accurate voter rolls.
PILF claims that Oregon officials have destroyed records indicating which voters were wrongfully removed from the rolls. This action, if true, would violate both the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. These federal laws mandate the retention of such records for specified periods to ensure transparency and protect voting rights.
ERIC, an elections database with reported left-wing ties, has faced criticism for inaccuracies in its data. One significant issue is the incorrect labeling of deceased voters as eligible, potentially compromising the integrity of voter rolls. PILF has been actively seeking “deceased retractions” reports from ERIC, which list voters wrongly flagged as dead.
“Oregon officials do not retain monthly alerts from the Electronic Registration Information Center (‘ERIC’) relating to registrants who were previously and inaccurately flagged as deceased,” PILF Research Director Logan Churchwell said.
Implications of Record Destruction
The destruction of voter records, if confirmed, could have far-reaching consequences for election integrity in Oregon. PILF’s data reveals that 55% of registrants wrongly categorized as deceased were removed from rolls before retraction reports were issued. This statistic underscores the potential for disenfranchisement and the importance of maintaining accurate records.
“It’s important that we are able to study patterns between ERIC’s Deceased Reports, Oregon’s reliance upon them, and the elapsed time before a Retraction,” Churchwell added.
The ability to analyze these patterns is crucial for ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls and preventing wrongful removal of eligible voters. Without proper record retention, it becomes challenging to identify and correct errors in the voter registration process.
Compounding the issue, Oregon’s DMV “motor voter system” has come under fire for mistakenly registering over 300 noncitizens to vote since 2021. Audits have revealed more than 1,500 potentially ineligible voters on the rolls, further emphasizing the need for robust record-keeping and verification processes.
We really need an overhaul of our entire system, don’t we?
