Secretary of state reacts to low primary voter turnout

Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, in Central Oregon Wednesday, said Tuesday’s primary election wasn’t low just in Oregon, but elsewhere in the nation.

Oregon saw a turnout of just over 33 percent, the lowest seen in at least 40 years of primary elections, despite the ease and convenience that mail-balloting affords.

Richardson added that often, when there are more controversial measures on the ballot, there is a higher turnout, and they are always working hard to increase it.

“The elections turnout was a little disappointing in the primary election,” Richardson said. “But what we find is if there is controversy in major issues, major primaries that are of major concern, then we will have a better turnout.”

Richardson said he wants to encourage all voters to accept the civil responsibility of voting.

He also said his office is working hard to engage younger voters by social media as well to get more involved.

Richardson also spoke about his responsibility to make sure that Oregon’s election are secure.

Richardson said in the wake of the news about presidential election hacks, he wrote a letter to President Trump, saying Oregon’s elections are safe from hacking and that sort of thing would not be allowed in this state.

It’s why Richardson is a supporter of paper ballots, which are much easier to protect.

“We want to ensure that through cyber-security, that our records are protected,” Richardson said. “That the private information of the people are secured and that there is integrity of our system.”

Richardson said he is working toward making Oregon a leader across the nation in cyber-security when it comes to elections.

He said his office is working to hire more people to protect elections in the state and also working to protect people through other methods in Oregon.

In a recent audit of the state’s foster care system, Richardson said his office found many problems, calling the foster care system “deplorable.”

Richardson said he wants to make sure that he keeps Oregonian’s best interest at the forefront.

“We have focused the attention on making sure that there is going to be better resources,” Richardson said. “That we will have better case workers that are not overly worked, that we’ll be focusing on kids. We have 7,600 kids in Oregon’s foster care system, and they are our children, they are Oregon’s children.”

Richardson said he’s hopeful that after the audit, things will change for the better.

He said the state has $14.5 million to put toward creating better resources for the foster care system.

Richardson is hopeful that with better resources and attention on this issue, things will change soon for the better.