Secretary of State Dennis Richardson — Voter Fraud Cases Referred for Criminal Prosecution
As Oregon’s chief election officer, my core mission is to maximize voter participation and access, while ensuring election integrity.
(Click on image below to watch Secretary Richardson's video.)
 My office is utilizing new technological tools that will improve election integrity. Through complex data matching techniques, the Elections Division identified 46 voters in the November 8, 2016 election who appear to have cast ballots in both Oregon and another state. Also identified, were ballots submitted under the names of six deceased Oregon voters and two registered Oregon voters who each cast two ballots in Oregon.
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Although
there is no evidence that these fraudulent ballots impacted the outcome of any
contest, no level of voter fraud is acceptable. Nevertheless, the suspicious
ballots discovered amount to just 1 out of every 38,000 ballots cast in Oregon
(.002%).
Voters
in Oregon can be confident that voter fraud is extremely rare in our state, and
when we do find it, we will prosecute. Evidence supporting these findings has
been turned over to the Attorney General’s office for criminal investigation
and prosecution. Intentionally voting twice is a felony punishable by up to
five years in prison and up to a $125,000 fine.
Every
Oregonian who is eligible to vote should be able to vote. We must use all tools
available to ensure election integrity so that the votes of those who are
eligible to vote are not diluted by those who are breaking the law.
In
closing, as your Secretary of State, I am working hard to achieve the mission
you elected me to do. These election integrity actions, combined with my voter
access initiative implemented last April to restore the voting rights of more
than 60,000 Oregonians, show the progress we are making. Together, with our county election partners, we are making
Oregon’s election system an example to the nation of honesty, inclusion, and
integrity.
Dennis
Richardson
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