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Subcommittee backs $2 million to stabilize Oregon's central voter registration system
Summary
The General Government Subcommittee recommended the Ways and Means committee include $2,000,000 in the 2026 budget to stabilize the Oregon centralized voter registration system (OCVR), funding hardware upgrades, security subscriptions and deferred maintenance ahead of this year's major election.
The Joint Interim Committee on Ways and Means General Government Subcommittee on Tuesday recommended that the legislature include $2,000,000 in the 2026 budget to stabilize Oregon's centralized voter registration system, OCVR.
Deputy Secretary of State Michael Kaplan told the panel the system needs urgent work to improve security and performance after years of deferred maintenance. "We're requesting $2,000,000 of general fund toward that effort," Kaplan said, saying roughly $1.3 million would go to hardware upgrades and about $700,000 for subscriptions and security services.
Kaplan said the department assessed prior replacement efforts and found the earlier Orbis project had stalled and that continuing to run a replacement in parallel with OCVR had left the state with incomplete documentation and fragmented upgrades. "We are simply catching up on years of deferred maintenance and improving security performance and stability," he said.
The Legislative Fiscal Office recommended the appropriation and Representative Gomberg moved the recommendation to the full committee. The subcommittee recorded a roll-call vote and the motion passed.
Why it matters: OCVR supports voter registration across all Oregon counties and will be in critical use for the upcoming election calendar this year. State officials said the funding is intended for short-term stabilization and not feature changes or new public-facing tools; it is described in agency materials as primarily one-time equipment and security work.
What's next: The recommendation will be carried to the full Ways and Means committee for consideration as part of the 2026 budget process. LFO staff characterized the $1.3 million equipment portion as one-time costs that would not roll into the next biennium.
Attributions: Deputy Secretary Michael Kaplan presented the request and LFO staff summarized the office's recommendation. The subcommittee moved and approved the LFO recommendation by roll call.
