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Rep. Drazen asks Secretary of State to study USPS changes’ impact on Oregon’s vote-by-mail system
Summary
House Bill 34 74 would direct the Secretary of State to study changes at the U.S. Postal Service and report how those changes could affect Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, with recommendations for legislative fixes; sponsor cited recent ballot-delivery problems and USPS service-model changes that disproportionately affect rural areas.
Representative Christine Drazen introduced House Bill 34 74 to the House Committee on Rules on March 12, 2025. The bill would require the Secretary of State to survey changes at the United States Postal Service and analyze how those changes may affect Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, producing a report with recommendations by September of the following year.
Drazen cited multiple service problems in the prior election cycle — ballots not arriving in Coos County, delayed deliveries in Douglas County tied to prepaid postage confusion, and local pickup and key-theft issues in Lane County — as examples of how postal-service disruptions have affected ballots. She also described recent USPS operational initiatives, including "Delivering for America" and the Regional Transportation Optimization Program, and said those initiatives have already changed routing and collection practices that disproportionately affect rural Oregon.
Drazen provided statewide figures discussed in testimony: she said more than 24,300 of the country's 33,700 post offices would be subject to the Regional Transportation Optimization Initiative, and she referenced historical USPS operating losses (testimony cited about $87,000,000,000 in losses from 2007 through 2020) as context for ongoing reforms. Drazen argued the state should study and prepare for risks to ballot delivery and rural residents who depend on reliable mail for ballots, prescriptions and bills.
Procedure: the committee opened and closed a public hearing on House Bill 34 74 on March 12, 2025. No committee vote was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Ending: The bill would create a report requirement for the Secretary of State to identify postal-related risks to vote-by-mail and recommend statutory or administrative changes; it remains in committee pending that study and any legislative response.
