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Residents urge commissioners to protect mail-in voting; one speaker criticizes ‘Unite for Freedom’ claims
Summary
Two public commenters defended Oregon’s longstanding mail-in voting system and urged commissioners to resist efforts to curtail it; one speaker challenged claims made by the group Unite for Freedom as inaccurate.
During the public-comment period, Ren Shockey and student veteran Nicklaus Johnston addressed the board about mail-in voting.
Ren Shockey criticized statements attributed to a representative of Unite for Freedom and called out what he described as misinformation on that organization's website. Shockey noted Oregon’s long history of mail-in voting and said the practice helps seniors, disabled people and rural residents vote. He urged the board and public to resist federal interference in state-run election procedures and questioned numerical claims on Unite for Freedom's materials.
"Oregon has had mail in voting for almost 45 years, and it's great," Shockey said. He also challenged a claim cited by the group that suggested implausible voter-registration figures from the 1800s, calling those numbers fabricated.
Nicklaus Johnston, a student at OIT and an Oregon Army National Guard veteran, said mail-in voting is his preferred method and urged the board to think carefully before supporting petitions that would limit it, pointing to access benefits for service members and homebound residents.
No board action was taken; commissioners listened during the allotted public-comment period.
