What say the candidates for Oregon Secretary of State about our system of universal mail balloting?
Kim Thatcher (R): Oregon system is "Pretty good."
Shemia Fagan (D): "Widespread voter fraud is a myth."
Rigged? Rigged how? Mailed ballots.
Trump tweeted: "The big Unsolicited Ballot States should give it up NOW before it is too late, and ask people to go to the Polling Booths and, like always before, VOTE. Otherwise, MAYHEM!!! Solicited Ballots (absentee) are OK." He was asked directly at the Presidential Debate if he would pledge to abide by the results of the November election. He declined.
Oregon is an "unsolicited ballot state."
Trump's campaign alerted Pennsylvania legislators that if the November election vote count goes against him he will dispute it. If the actual vote in a state is arguably unknown, with the vote count blocked or the results tied up in courts, it would allow Republican legislatures in Pennsylvania and other swing states including Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, and Florida to choose Trump electors amid the chaos of lawsuits, impending deadlines, and an indeterminate vote based on mailed votes he disputes. He has tweeted: "Because of the new and unprecedented massive amount of unsolicited ballots which will be sent to 'voters' or wherever, this year, the Nov 3rd Election result may NEVER BE ACCURATELY DETERMINED, which is what some want."
Trump is unequivocal about mail-in ballots--just like the kind we have in Oregon. They produce fraudulent results, he says. Do they?
The Oregon Secretary of State has an important role in what might be a constitutional crisis similar to the one in the 2000 election.
I asked the two major candidates for Oregon Secretary of State. Shemia Fagan, a Democrat, and Kim Thatcher, a Republican, whether each agreed or disagreed with President Trump's multiple statements that mail-in votes create fraudulent, unreliable results. In the context of President Trump's statements, they have both their official role overseeing lawful elections in Oregon, and the role as an authoritative eyewitness to the validity of mail-in voting.
Does the Secretary of State candidate or officeholder stand behind our elections or not? If Trump is right, who better to know and speak up and join in the criticism than an eyewitness to a bad system? If Trump is wrong, who has better credibility based on hands-on observation and experience than an Oregon Secretary of State to stand on the national stage and push back? Or will candidates dodge the question and let Trump's opinion stand, neither affirmed nor denied?
I asked the two candidates their views, each published verbatim:
Kim Thatcher is a State Senator from Kaiser, Oregon and a Republican. Her website is: www.kimthatcher.com
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| Thatcher |
"The issues raised regarding mail-in ballots are not a matter of agreement with President Trump or not. From my perspective it's a matter of looking at Oregon's system of vote by mail. Instead, we should compare what we've done here in Oregon when people discuss the idea of national vote by mail or look at what other states are doing if we're discussing this upcoming election.
Here in Oregon, our system has been pretty good in the past 20 years with a very low rate of fraud. Oregon has a lot of safeguards in place that other states may not necessarily have. Still, if elected to be Oregon's next Secretary of State, I would want to conduct a top to bottom review on our election's process from voter registration to the last ballot counted.
Keep in mind it took Oregon a few years of test runs and other improvements to get vote by mail right in our state. My hope is that if and when other states decide to implement a similar system they too would enact similar security measures so they can have the same level of integrity Oregon has today. If the voters elected me to be Secretary of State, I will be happy to work with other states to show them what we've learned in Oregon. Bottom line is that it would take other states more than just a few weeks to put in place the Oregon system."
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Shemia Fagan is a State Senator from Portland, and a Democrat. Her position is support for vote by mail. Her campaign website is www.shemiafororegon.com
Claims of widespread voter fraud is a myth. A myth spread by people who want to make it harder for certain groups to vote. I believe that voting rights and making government work for everybody, the core issues to the Sec. of State role, should not be partisan issues. That's why I'm proud to have helped lead every recent expansion of voter access in Oregon, including changes that have benefited Oreonians who traditionally vote Republican, like automatic voter registration and pre-paid postage on ballots. But Sen. Thatcher voted lockstep with her party to oppose those bills.
Note: An earlier version of this left out the important word "NOT" in Fagan's statement above regarding partisanship. It was my error. My sincere apologies. It reversed the meaning of an important sentence.
8 comments:
Regressives are particularly hard on women. If they can be indoctrinated at a young age it is nearly impossible for them to live in their own self interest. It's quite tragic. Generally we hear them simply parrot the views of the patriarchs who control them, sometimes quite fanatically.
All around them is a movement, now over a century old, that strives to gain equality, yet they are blind to it, like the caged bird too fearful to fly even when the door is open.
If you have hulu, check out "Mrs. America". It's well done, if a little campy, and a good reminder of the Progressive fight for women's equality.
Hi Peter,
I hope you and your family are doing well. I tried to post comments the last time you wrote about the Secretary of State race, but was unsuccessful. I am e-mailing them to you for consideration.
Most things in life are not black and white, and voting by mail is no exception. I personally prefer voting by mail because I can spend several days researching the candidates and ballot measures, and not be compelled to make snap decisions due to the compressed timeline in a voting booth. I also believe that voting by mail without authentication is open to some degree of fraud. The magnitude of fraud is most likely a very small percentage, but in close races that is all it takes to swing an election.
I read two interesting stories on this topic, one directly related and one potentially related. The first was an article in the New York Post in which an anonymous source described the many ways in which mail-in and absentee ballots were being manipulated. https://nypost.com/2020/08/29/political-insider-explains-voter-fraud-with-mail-in-ballots/ These tactics were employed typically in very close races, when the candidate of choice needed to pull ahead at the last minute for victory. I acknowledge that the New York Post is sensationalized and hyper-partisan, but many of their stories do contain some element of truth.
It is interesting that you are focusing on the Secretary of State race, since the outcome of the Democratic Primary was consistent with some of the races described in the Post story. In fact, the Oregonian was stunned that Senator Fagan won, since their modeling predicted a victory for Senator Hass. https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/05/state-sen-shemia-fagan-wins-democratic-primary-for-oregon-secretary-of-state.html
Was there a small degree of vote tampering in the Oregon Democratic Primary for Secretary of State? We may never know for certain. But if it were true, how ironic that the beneficiary could be the next person in charge of elections.
Best Regards,
Pat.
I am not very impressed by an anonymous source in the NY post. What I do observe are county clerks, many of the Republicans, managing the election in 36 counties. Hard to pull of a conspiracy.
If pre-election polling serves as a credible indication of what the vote "really" is, as Pat suggested, then this is good news for Biden. The risk would be greatest if polls suggested he would lose a state, eg Pennsylvania, and then it turns out he wins it. Trump--or someone--might call foul. But if the polls show a 5 point lead, and votes are counted and he wins by about 5 points, and then if Trump says he was cheated and the mailed in votes are fraudulent, he might still get away with it and Republican voters might go along, but it is a harder case to make.
But Pat's comment above is an interesting point to consider. If a person outperforms the polls, it is sign of fraud and worthy of suggesting the win illegitimate and suspicious. That could help Biden, if his poll leads hold up.
I voted for Hass in the Primary but he narrowly lost to Fagan. In my walking group I discuss my vote and wondered aloud if Hass was their choice too. I was surprised too learn many had grown tired of Hass and were concerned that Oregon could do better for a Secretary of State. They knew him personally as residents of Beaverton. There was a hint that they preferred to see a woman get this job if they’re qualified and Fagan is qualified. This time it is extremely important, in my mind, to see Fagan become our next Secretary of State.
Here is an usual double post by me today to show how Multnomah County handles Vote by Mail. I receive notification at each step of the process. When the ballet is mailed, when the ballot is received, and when the ballot is accepted to be counted. Tracking does not follow it to include the count, rather it is added to the pile of other accepted ballots. The following is the notification I receive from the county yesterday.
***************************************************************************************************************************
Your ballot for the November 2020 General Election has been sent. Look for it soon in your mailbox! If you have any questions, call us at 503-988-VOTE (503-988-8683).
Visit www.mcelections.org for more election information.
Tim Scott, Director of Elections
Multnomah County Elections Division
Phone: 503-988-VOTE
Email: elections@multco.us
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I don’t have any concerns about election fraud. I have HUGE concerns about THIS Democratic Party candidate, as did one of her longtime allies.
https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/05/07/veteran-lawmaker-blasts-longtime-ally-for-tactics-in-secretary-of-state-campaign/
This is a whole lot of what is wrong with Oregon governance.
Thank you for your posted comment. I reviewed the information in the WW article. I conclude the PAC was responsible for the website and the campaign contribution During the primary. It was and should be by law out of Fagan’s control. Fagan is the candidate that made it through the primary. Since this is a decade year I intend to vote for the Democrat because they will decide whether and how redistributing occurs. I know it’s a single issue and in my mind of paramount importance.
Correction the PAC put up the website and the Union made the contribution.
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