Oregon lawmakers demand USPS rescind proposed mail-in voting rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTVZ) -- U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, alongside U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter, Janelle Bynum and Val Hoyle, today demanded the U.S. Postal Service rescind a proposed rule. The rule would limit mail-in voting to federally registered voters and require states to provide detailed voter lists, directly impacting Oregon's established vote-by-mail system.

The proposed rule would mandate that state elections officials furnish the federal government with detailed voter lists, including names, addresses and unique barcodes, for all individuals who vote by mail. Under this requirement, mail-in ballots would be distributed solely to voters registered with the federal government. Lawmakers argue this constitutes federal overreach into states' constitutional authority to manage their own electoral systems, noting that if a state does not comply, the Postal Service would withhold mail-in ballot delivery. Oregon has exclusively used a vote-by-mail system since 1998.

The proposed rule mandates that all current registered voters re-register with the federal government prior to the November election. Oregon's congressional delegation emphasized that this re-registration requirement would create logistical hurdles and suppress voter turnout, particularly in states like Oregon that conduct elections solely by mail.

In their letter to Postmaster General David Steiner, the Oregon lawmakers detailed their concerns. “The state of Oregon has relied entirely on mail-in voting since 1998,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our vote-by-mail system has proven itself, time and again, to be safe, secure and reliable. Despite continued claims by Donald Trump that mail-in voting leads to higher cases of voter fraud, states that use it experience fewer instances of voter fraud than any other system.”