Fact check: Are Voters’ Pamphlet statements reliable?

The Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet: 175 pages of … fact?

Not so fast.

At the bottom of Page 4, a small disclaimer reveals the statements, arguments and submissions have not been verified for accuracy by the state of Oregon.

So anyone who shells out the $1,200 or gets 500 signatures to publish an argument can take advantage of Oregon’s free speech rules to say what they please.

The Oregon Elections Division, overseen by the Secretary of State’s Office, published 1.7 million Voters’ Pamphlets this year. In an email to NewsChannel 21, an Oregon Elections Division spokesman said Monday that each argument submitted is assigned a number that is used to randomly order all arguments.

Though the guide is meant to educate voters, the secretary of state has no legal authority to fact-check or ensure the information is accurate. Her office also has no ability to allow campaigns to edit what they’ve submitted after the deadline. That means campaigns have unfiltered communication with voters. And it’s all funded by taxpayers.

The cost for the primary election Voters’ Pamphlet was about $385,000, including postage, layout, proofreading, production, etc. The general election pamphlets’ projected cost is $704,000. Currently, fees generated from argument submissions go into the state’s general fund, not back to the Elections Division’s account.

It serves as a warning for voters to be cautious — don’t believe everything you read in the word wars of your Voters’ Pamphlet.

There are other resources you can utilize for ballot measure information.http://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page is an online encyclopedia. The Website claims every submission is fact-checked and curated.

Tuesday, is the last day to register to vote. Ballots will go out in the mail Wednesday.