A $1.25 million election funding request presented to Oregon budget officials earlier this week has cleared its final legislative hurdle, releasing money for additional ballot drop boxes, statewide ballot tracking and continued maintenance of inactive voter registration records ahead of the November general election.
The Joint Emergency Board approved the Secretary of State’s request Thursday, shifting the proposal from a funding appeal to an election administration project that state and county officials can begin carrying out before ballots reach Oregon voters next month.
Secretary of State Tobias Read had sought the appropriation to address ballot return access, county election expenses and voter notification services. The request advanced through two committees with unanimous support before reaching the Emergency Board.
“I told Oregonians I would use every tool available to ensure Oregon’s elections remain secure, accurate, and fair despite ongoing federal attacks,” Read said in announcing the approval. “Oregonians will have more secure locations to return their ballots this election and a tool to be confident that their vote was counted.”
The largest portion of the package, $618,000, will finance additional permanent ballot drop boxes and expenses counties incur as more ballots are returned through official drop locations. The Secretary of State’s Office previously identified the purchase of 20 additional permanent, 24-hour drop boxes in its request to the Emergency Board.
Where those boxes will be installed has not yet been announced. State election officials conducted a review of existing drop box availability to identify areas where additional locations could be placed. Counties will participate in implementation, including site preparation and installation, before the new locations become operational.
The timing places that work against Oregon’s approaching general election calendar. Ballots are scheduled to begin going to voters Oct. 14, with Election Day on Nov. 3. Ballots placed in official drop boxes must be received by 8 p.m. Election Day, while mailed ballots must carry a valid Election Day postmark.
A second component of Thursday’s approval directs $154,000 toward making BallotTrax available statewide. The optional service provides voters with electronic updates as their ballots move through the election system, including notification when a ballot is sent, when it reaches the county elections office and when the voter’s signature has been accepted so the ballot can be counted.
Five Oregon counties currently offer the service. The newly approved funding extends availability across the state, eliminating the existing county-by-county limitation and giving voters in all 36 counties access to the tracking system.
The remaining $480,000 will go to counties for updated notification cards sent in connection with inactive voter registration records. The work is intended to continue Oregon’s process for identifying and eventually clearing outdated information from the inactive voter list.
Inactive voters do not automatically receive ballots. State election officials said the notification work is therefore expected to have negligible effect on the November election itself, while allowing counties to continue registration-list maintenance.
Thursday’s vote completes the funding process that was still underway when the proposal was presented earlier this week. Attention now moves from whether the state will finance the projects to how quickly election officials and counties can put the approved money to work.
Installation of the additional drop boxes will depend on county coordination, procurement and preparation of individual locations. The Secretary of State’s Office said the final sites will be announced after they have been established.
For voters, the first statewide change expected from the appropriation is broader access to two methods of following and returning a ballot: additional physical drop locations and BallotTrax enrollment regardless of county.
Read characterized the appropriation as an investment that will be visible during the coming election.
“These are critical investments that will have real impact,” Read said. “I want to thank the Oregon Legislature and legislative leadership for their partnership in supporting Oregon’s elections.”