Secretary of State Tobias Reed and election officials told the House Interim Committee on Rules on Nov. 17 that Oregon’s vote-by-mail system remains secure and broadly trusted, but faces practical risks from postal delays and uneven county resources.

"We just call it voting in Oregon," Reed said, framing the state’s approach as established after decades of modernization, including the My Vote registration system and automatic voter registration through the DMV. Reed pointed to public confidence, saying "more than 80% of Oregonians trust our system." He also cited a long-term audit figure: "in about a 20 year study with more than 60,000,000 votes cast, Oregon saw just 38 cases of voter fraud. All of them caught, all of them prosecuted, and none of them changing the outcome of an election."

Dina Dawson, the State Elections Director, described operational safeguards: monthly National Change of Address matches with the U.S. Postal Service, certified vote-tally systems, public logic-and-accuracy tests before and after elections, risk-limiting audits or required hand counts in some races, and a 21-day "cure" process for voters whose signature verification fails.

Dag Robinson, Harney County clerk and president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks, summarized county practices for chain-of-custody and ballot processing. He said ballots include unique barcodes tied to voter records so "only 1 ballot per voter can ever be accepted," sealed drop boxes are logged and transported by bipartisan teams, and most drop boxes are monitored by video.

Committee members pressed officials about specific risks. Rep. Kim Wallen asked how the administration is standardizing automatic voter registration (AVR) after uneven county protocols; Dawson said the Secretary of State’s office is working with counties and the Motor Voter rules advisory committee to publish draft rules and videos to improve data-entry consistency. Vice Chair Lucetta Elmer asked about "ballot harvesting" and penalties; Reed and Robinson noted statutory penalties and signature controls, saying signing another person’s ballot is a class C felony and that counties do not see widespread abuse.

Officials acknowledged vulnerabilities outside election offices. Dawson and Reed warned that United States Postal Service processing changes and rural service reductions could lengthen transit and postmark times, and they said the office is monitoring the USPS and considering supplemental delivery strategies. Robinson added that clerks maintain close working relationships with local postmasters.

On county capacity, Robinson and Dawson said funding disparities leave some clerks without backup staff or succession plans. Robinson said he fears that reverting to in-person voting would require more staff than many counties can afford: "if we were to somehow eliminate vote by mail... that will require way more staff than we have now."

The presentation closed with an invitation for lawmakers to watch forthcoming research, including a planned USPS study, and with officials offering to share more detailed materials and presentations with committee members. The hearing then moved to a campaign finance reform update.