Election Denial in Oregon
0 Election Deniers currently hold statewide office with election oversight power.
0 Election Deniers are on the ballot for statewide office.
5 Election Deniers have held, or run for, statewide office since 2020.
The landscape in Oregon
Election workers across the country have been intimidated, harassed, and threatened because of lies spread by the Election Denier movement. As a result, many election workers have left their jobs, taking priceless institutional knowledge with them. In Oregon, almost half of citizens will have their 2024 elections run by someone who wasn’t in the job in 2020, according to Issue One.
The state has stepped up to protect the workers who keep elections functioning. A 2022 law stiffened the penalty for harassing election workers, and it allowed those workers to keep their addresses private.
Oregon’s Rep. Cliff Bentz was among the 147 Republicans who voted, even after the Jan. 6 attack, to reject legitimate election results.
0 Election Deniers hold statewide Office right now.
Elections are run by the states. In Oregon, the Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State are the state officials responsible for overseeing elections. It’s up to them to make sure the will of the people is always respected.
Read more about The Roles of Our Elected Officials in Elections
No candidates match the selected filters.
0 Election Deniers are on statewide Ballots in races we're tracking.
Oregon has a race in 2024 for at least one of the statewide offices that oversee elections. Here are the candidates.
Read more about The Roles of Our Elected Officials in Elections
No candidates match the selected filters.
How Oregon compares
Every state runs its own elections, with its own laws and processes. Check out how Oregon compares with other states in its region when it comes to Election Deniers holding state election administration jobs.
Election Denial in Far West States
| Lieutenant Governor | Moreinformation about Alaska | ||||
| Moreinformation about California | |||||
| State Elections Board | Moreinformation about Hawai‘i | ||||
| Moreinformation about Nevada | |||||
| Moreinformation about Oregon | |||||
| Moreinformation about Washington |
Sitting official is an Election Denier
- In Alaska, the chief election official is the Lieutenant Governor, elected alongside the Governor.
- In Hawai'i, the Chief Election Official is appointed by the Hawai'i Elections Commission.
Election Denial in Ongoing Races
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 State Commissioner of Elections | Moreinformation about Delaware | |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Indiana | |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Missouri | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Montana | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about New Hampshire | |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 State Elections Board | Moreinformation about North Carolina | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about North Dakota | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Oregon | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Pennsylvania | |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 Lieutenant Governor | Moreinformation about Utah | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Vermont | |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about Washington | |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moreinformation about West Virginia |
States are colored by the number of Election Deniers running for office:
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Voter turnout over time
Voters are always the backstop against election denial, whether Election Deniers are already in office or vying for power. It’s important to turn out for every election in your state—and to vote in every race on your ballot. Downballot races, like contests for Attorney General and Secretary of State, have historically drawn fewer voters, even though the positions are critical to keeping elections free, fair, and secure. Here’s a look at voter participation in Oregon elections over time. Notice that in years with several important positions up for election, some voters choose not to vote in every race.
Voter Participation in Oregon Since 2016
- #071B40
- President
- #2455A0
- Senator
- #4387F1
- Governor
- #A7C5F3
- Attorney General
- #EDF3FD
- Secretary of State
2016 Presidential
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President had a 69% voter turnout rate
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Senator had a 67% voter turnout rate
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Governor had a 67% voter turnout rate
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Attorney General had a 63% voter turnout rate
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Secretary of State had a 65% voter turnout rate
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2018 Midterm
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Governor had a 62% voter turnout rate
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2020 Presidential
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President had a 76% voter turnout rate
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Senator had a 75% voter turnout rate
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Secretary of State had a 73% voter turnout rate
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Voter turnout
Data on the number of votes cast in each race are from state elections depositories, supplemented with data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), House Election Statistics, and The Book of States. Rates are calculated using the Census’s Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) estimates. Rates will be updated when the Census releases new CVAP data for 2022.
Beyond the ballot box
Each year, state legislators introduce thousands of bills related to elections. And in the past few years, we’ve identified a concerning trend. Across the country, state legislatures are considering bills that would make it easier for partisan actors to manipulate an election, and maybe even overturn the will of the people. We’re tracking these bills along with our partners in an ongoing series of reports called “A Democracy Crisis in the Making.” In 2023 alone, through early May, we tracked 185 bills introduced in 38 state legislatures that would politicize, criminalize, or interfere with elections.
The anti-democracy playbook is simple: change the rules and change the referees, in order to change the results. These bills go hand-in-hand with the Election Denier movement: They’re about taking power away from voters and making it harder for trusted election officials to do their jobs.
Legislative Interference in Oregon by Category
As of May 3, 2023, 3 bills had been introduced or were under consideration in Oregon. None have been enacted or adopted and none have been vetoed after passing.
These bills show that the threat to elections in Oregon, and all across the country, goes well beyond the ballot box.
- Imposing disproportionate criminal or other penalties.These bills would create or expand penalties for election officials in the ordinary execution of their jobs, including criminalizing inadvertent mistakes.
- Creating unworkable burdens in election administration.These bills would interfere with the basic procedures of election administration, increasing the risk of chaos and delay and enabling misleading claims of irregularity.
- Requiring partisan or unprofessional election “audits” or reviews.These bills would establish vague post-election review schemes without the professional standards of traditional audits.
- Usurping control over election results.These bills would give legislators or other state officials direct control over election outcomes.
- Seizing power over election responsibilities.These bills would shift election administration responsibilities away from professional, nonpartisan officials and toward partisan actors in the legislature.