Ron meets with Oregonians concerned about ballot security

With the November election fast approaching, Ron met recently with Oregonians who share his concerns about ballot security in the face of continued attacks by hackers and foreign governments.

“Russia attacked our democracy in 2016 and we know they want to attack it again,” Ron said at a news conference at the Bus Project in Portland with U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, state Sen. Lew Frederick, Common Cause Oregon and the League of Women Voters of Oregon.

“Regrettably, the Trump administration is not doing enough to deal with that attack,” he said. “Simply put, it is irresponsible and irrational to magically believe that Vladimir Putin wishes the best for our democracy and our elections.”

Ron said his Protecting American Votes and Elections (PAVE) Act requiring the use of paper ballots and “risk-limiting” audits for all federal elections would protect election results from hackers or foreign governments. His bill is picking up support from senators and voting rights groups.

He also has introduced a Vote-by-Mail Act, which would expand Oregon’s vote-by-mail system nationally, knocking down mounting obstacles that voters face when trying to cast their ballots.

“Oregon voters should not have to wait for the rest of the country to protect America’s democracy from hackers who now get an open invitation from the voting machine companies,” he said. “The only thing that would be worse would be to put American ballot boxes on  Moscow street corners.”