Secretary Atkins Warns of Misleading Voter Registration Letters
Mailings from the Voter Participation Center may contain erroneous information
Oregon elections officials report that they are receiving complaints from voters who have received letters from an organization called Voter Participation Center (VPC), which inaccurately claim that the recipient is not registered to vote. In the letters, VPC includes a pre-filled voter registration form that may contain incorrect or outdated information, or information for people who don’t live at the address. In many instances, the voter is in fact properly registered to vote.
“Voters who have questions about their registration status should visit www.oregonvotes.gov or contact their county clerk to confirm that they are correctly registered to vote in the upcoming election,” said Secretary of State Jeanne P. Atkins. “Unfortunately, these mailings often cause more confusion than necessary. While my office has shared our concerns with the Voter Participation Center about the accuracy of their data, we are not able to prevent the mailings. However, Oregon election officials are ready and eager to help Oregonians with their questions about voter registration.”
Voters with questions about their voter registration status should visit www.oregonvotes.gov or check directly with their county elections office. Contact information for county elections are available on the Secretary of State’s website at www.oregonvotes.gov/counties.
According to the VPC, in early September, over 11 million notices were sent to voters in 18 states. In most cases those voters are currently registered, even though the third-party mailer says they aren’t registered and in some cases contains old information, like maiden names. According to a news release from the VPC, “mail recipients who do happen to receive a registration form in error may easily remove their names from VPC’s database by filling out an online unsubscribe form.” http://www.voterparticipation.org/our-mission/voter-registration/unsubscribe/
New voters or Oregonians who want to update their voter registration information in time for the upcoming November 8 election are encouraged to visit www.oregonvotes.gov. Oregonians have until October 18 to register to vote. Voters can update their voter information at any time, but are encouraged to do so by October 18 in order to receive their ballot in a timely manner.