Over the past week, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read has led in pushing back against Trump’s latest effort to undermine democracy by campaigning to end mail-in voting.
Oregon was the first state in the country to implement a complete vote-by-mail system and continues to hold some of the most stable and effective elections in the country. Secretary Read noted that the power grab was inspired by advice from Russian authoritarian Vladimir Putin and emphasized Trump’s unconstitutional overstep into states’ jurisdiction over elections.
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TOBIAS READ: I think it is clear that the President is trying to avoid accountability. He does not want to have to answer for what his administration is and isn’t doing. The fact is, exactly as you reported it, Oregon has been doing this for decades. We were the first state in the country to do it, and we did it because it works. We get high turnout among the voters in the country. We get low cost, we get high security. So, you also said, the President does not have the authority to do this. The Constitution is very clear that states have the responsibility of deciding how they run elections, and we are going to defend that right. We are going to make sure that Oregonians have the opportunity to continue holding politicians accountable just as they choose to do it.
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AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Give us a sense of what you’re preparing for, what you’re anticipating, what you as Secretary of State can do to prevent this attempted takeover from the President? Or overreach, if you will, from the President?
TOBIAS READ: You’re 100% right. Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution spells it out explicitly. If Congress wanted to have that conversation, they could, but we are prepared to remind people of what we’re talking about here. This is a bipartisan issue. It spans the entire country. Oregonians have been electing Republicans, Democrats, and independents for decades. It’s not even in the Republicans’ electoral interest. Think about the people who are most likely to use mail-in voting. They are people who live a long distance from an election center. They’re more likely to be voting conservatively, and mail-in elections do not favor any party at all. So, if the President signs another executive order, we’ll take him to court with the Oregon Attorney General, just as we have done with his first unconstitutional and illegal executive order when it comes to elections.
NBC News: Trump reignites his push to ban mail-in voting after meeting with Putin
Oregon conducts its elections entirely by mail, and it was the first state to hold a presidential election by mail. Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read emphasized that voter fraud is “extremely rare.”
He said he believes Trump “is actively working to corrupt our elections. If he had any inclination to actually understand or care about the American people, he’d know that mail-in voting is really the best way to protect everybody’s right to vote, and that’s especially true for rural folks, for elderly people and for people who work for an hourly wage.”
Read also pointed to the states’ constitutional role in deciding how to conduct elections, adding, “I’m going to protect the rights of Oregonians and the rights of the state to choose how we elect our representatives. This is a real threat.”
OPB: Trump wants to end mail-in voting. Oregon Democrats say he can’t
In an interview with OPB, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read decried the president’s statements, saying Trump “is clearly actively working to corrupt our elections.” Barring an act of Congress, Read said the federal government does not have the authority to end mail-in voting.
“The Constitution is very clear,” he said. “States run elections.”
A Democrat who was elected in November, Read also rebuked the president’s statements on Fox News, adding: “Despite what Putin apparently whispered into President Trump’s ears, our vote-by-mail elections are secure and accurate.”
“Voter fraud is extremely rare, and it’s never changed the outcome of an election,” Read said.
Stopping this system would disproportionately impact rural and elderly voters, Read said, “because mail-in voting meets citizens exactly where they are, in their living rooms, around their kitchen tables.” It would force elections offices to hire poll workers and prompt people to seek child care or take time off work to vote, Read said.
“I’ve now talked to 30 of our 36 county clerks, and every one of them recognized that a move like this would be more expensive, would be less effective, would mean that it’s harder for eligible Oregonians to hold politicians accountable,” said Read. “We should not be moving in that direction.”
KGW8: Trump vows to end vote-by-mail elections; local leaders push back
Oregon and Washington state and local leaders are lining up to defend vote-by-mail elections as President Donald Trump called vote-by-mail a fraud during a Monday news conference.
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Vote-by-mail advocates say Oregon was the first state in the country to implement a complete “at home” vote-by-mail system, and several others have followed. They say many Oregonians and Washingtonians take pride in the advancement.
However, Trump stated vote-by-mail costs 10 times more than paper ballots at polling centers and takes longer for results to be released.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read shot back: “He’s wrong. Voting by mail in Oregon, which by the way is done with paper ballots, is less expensive than votes that require someone to show up at a specific place and a specific time.”
Read said Trump is crossing into state and county territory.
“We follow the Constitution in Oregon,” Read said, “which says clearly, states run elections not the federal government.”
KVAL: Oregon defends mail-in voting as President Trump calls for nationwide ban
Trump’s comments do not phase Oregon’s Secretary of State, Tobias Read, he says mail-in voting isn’t going anywhere.
“Despite what Putin apparently whispered in his ear. It’s really clear that mail in elections are secure and accurate. Any instances of voter fraud are exceedingly rare. It never affect the outcome of an election, and I think the President is pretty actively working to undermine our democracy.”
“Mail in elections are the best way to protect the right to vote. I think that’s especially true for people who live in rural parts of the state, for elderly people, or for people who work an hourly job,” said Read. “It works because it meets people right where they are, whether that’s in their living room or around their kitchen table.
Oregon is already part of a lawsuit, alongside Washington, challenging a sweeping executive order from April that would’ve changed how ballots were counted. Read says the constitution is clear: elections are run by the states, not by Executive Order.
“Executive orders have no place in the administration of elections,” Read says. “So if there is a future elected executive order, I can assure you and all Oregonians, I will use every power at my disposal to defend our right in Oregon to choose how we elect people and how we hold politicians accountable.”
Read points to wide support for the current system, noting that thousands of Oregonians submitted testimony earlier this year against Republican-sponsored State Senate Bill 210 that could repeal mail-in voting by 2028.
“Our mailing systems are accurate [sic] safe. They are what Oregonians want. They’re how we hold politicians accountable, and we will defend it.”