Oregon Secretary of State Begins Cleanup
Oregon Secretary of State Begins Cleanup of Inactive Voter Records; Public Confusion Follows
PORTLAND, OR — In early January, the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office announced new directives to resume long-delayed maintenance of the state’s voter registration database, prompting public debate and confusion on social media over the meaning of “inactive” voter records and their relationship to election integrity.
This article is a rebuttal of what KOIN overstated and omitted
On January 9, Secretary of State Tobias Read announced that Oregon maintains approximately 800,000 inactive voter registration records, of which about 160,000 currently meet federal and state criteria for cancellation under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Oregon law.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, inactive voter records are separate from Oregon’s approximately three million active registered voters. Individuals listed as inactive do not receive ballots and cannot vote unless they take steps to reactivate their registration. Election officials state that none of the individuals associated with these inactive records cast ballots while inactive.
Why the Inactive Records Exist
Oregon automatically places a voter registration into inactive status when election mail is returned as undeliverable or when officials believe a registration may be outdated. Voters are notified and may reactivate their registration at any time.
Prior to July 20, 2017, Oregon routinely canceled inactive registrations that met NVRA standards. However, that year the state removed cancellation language from voter confirmation cards, which election officials say limited their ability to complete removals under federal law. As a result, inactive records accumulated over time, creating a backlog.
Secretary Read’s new directives restart that cleanup process.
Scope of the Cleanup
160,000 inactive records already meet cancellation criteria and will be removed.
Approximately 640,000 inactive records remain on file but do not yet meet legal requirements for cancellation and must be retained unless further criteria are met.
Future directives will address confirmation procedures to ensure outdated records are eventually removed in compliance with federal law.
Public Claims and Clarifications
After the announcement, some social media users characterized the 800,000 inactive records as “fake voters.” That framing spread widely online, including commentary by public figures.
Election officials emphasize that inactive records are not fraudulent ballots, nor evidence that votes were cast improperly. Instead, they represent outdated or unconfirmed registrations that remain on file due to legal constraints and administrative delays.
At the same time, election experts note that large numbers of inactive records can raise public concern, even when no ballots are issued, underscoring the importance of regular maintenance for transparency and confidence.
Documented Voter Fraud Context
According to publicly available state data:
Oregon has recorded 38 voter fraud convictions between 2000 and 2019, with no published aggregate number of ballots associated with those convictions.
In the 2016 general election, 54 improper ballots were identified and referred for investigation.
In later elections, reported fraud referrals exceeded confirmed ballot counts, and the state does not publish total confirmed ballot numbers for those years, which itself should be concerning.
Between 2021 and 2024, a DMV registration error resulted in 30 ballots being cast by ineligible registrants, a figure acknowledged and investigated by the state.
Officials state that none of these incidents affected election outcomes.
Moving Forward
Secretary Read said the goal of the directives is to ensure voter records are accurate, current, and trusted by the public.
“These directives are about cleaning up old data that’s no longer in use so Oregonians can be confident that our voter records are up to date,” Read said. “From day one, our goal has been to run elections that are secure, fair, and accurate.”
Election administrators note that voter roll maintenance is an ongoing process governed by federal law, balancing accuracy with protections against improper removal of eligible voters.
Conclusion: What KOIN Omitted or Overstated
Omitted
Why Oregon stopped routine cancellation of inactive voter records in 2017 and allowed a multi-year backlog to accumulate.
That 160,000 inactive records already met legal removal standards, indicating acknowledged database inaccuracy.
That 640,000 inactive records remain because they do not yet meet NVRA cancellation criteria, not because they are confirmed valid.
Historical context showing Oregon does not publish aggregate fake-ballot totals for most election cycles.
That concern over record inflation can exist without alleging ballots were cast.
Overstated
That public claims universally asserted 800,000 ballots were cast, rather than questioning record validity.
That clarifying “inactive voters do not receive ballots” fully resolves system-integrity concerns.
The conclusiveness of official assurances without independent audit citation.
The idea that legal compliance alone equates to optimal voter-roll management.
Fallacies Identified
The following are also the fallacies that were imposed, clearly with intention to misrepresent or mislead people, by the way KOIN and related MEDIA/NEWS outlets regurgitate demonstrating their lack of consistency or accuracy.
Straw Man: Reframing criticism as a claim that 800,000 people voted.
Equivocation: Treating “fake voters” as meaning fraudulent ballots rather than invalid records.
False Dichotomy: Implying either ballots were cast or no problem exists.
Appeal to Authority: Substituting official statements for independent verification.
Motte-and-Bailey: Retreating from “claims are false” to the narrower “no ballots were issued.”
Ad Hominem / Dismissal: Undermining critics by ridiculing the speaker instead of addressing substance.
