Oregon Secretary of State provides list of voters to federal voter fraud commission

The Secretary of State's office gave a copy of Oregon's statewide voter list to a new federal commission investigating voter fraud, complying Friday with a request that critics say could lead to voter suppression efforts.

Oregon statute states that anyone can obtain a copy of the statewide voter list for non-commercial purposes if they request it from the Secretary of State's office and pay a $500 fee.

In a statement, the Secretary of State's office indicated the list included voters' name, address, registration date, birth year, party affiliation, voting participation history, precinct name and registration status.

President Donald Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May to investigate claims of voter fraud, including the President's oft-repeated, unsubstantiated claim that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 general election.

Analysis of voter fraud claims nationwide has shown fraud to be a rare occurrence in the United States. Critics suggest this new committee is no more than an attempt to nationalize voter suppression and disenfranchisement that has been occurring at the state level in different capacities for years.

In June, Republican Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state and vice chairman of the commission, sent a letter to top state election officials requesting voter lists, including social security numbers, which Oregon did not provide.

At the time, more than 20 states said they would not fulfill the request.

Gov. Kate Brown and members of Oregon's congressional delegation urged Secretary of State Dennis Richardson to also deny the request.

Instead, his response was that if the federal government made a request and paid the $500 fee, it could receive the list, same as anyone else.

Contact the reporter at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich.