Provide the Sec-State the upgrades she needs

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Secretary of State is asking for $4 million in additional funding from the Legislature’s Emergency Board.

The Secretary of State could use some financial help — even more than the help recently provided earlier this year.

Here are some reasons why … (as provided in our favorite bullet-point format):

• Election offices are facing increased cyber attacks and threats of violence.

• The current election system for reporting and providing public information is outdated and dysfunctional.  It is difficult for candidates to learn and easy for them to be fined for technical mistakes.  We notice at this very moment that the public information on Orestar for local ballot measures is incomplete and woefully behind schedule.

• The current election system will likely be over-run by an even more complex system if campaign finance laws get finalized.  It is like putting a building-size byzantine contraption upon a much smaller one.

• The Secretary of State says they are overwhelmed with public information requests that they say they cannot handle.  If our Election Office receives more funding then it should be used to help answer these requests in a timely fashion which will help preserve confidence in our election process.  We understand that there are two sides to the problem — #1. Oregon State Government has a terrible track record of blocking public records requests (a favorite topic by The Oregonian Editorials) and #2. there are citizens who abuse the process by filing endless requests.   By securing more funding we hope to alleviate both concerns.

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