Post misrepresents number of registered voters and residents in Oregon | Fact check
The claim: There are more registered voters than residents in Oregon
A June 28 Instagram video shows a man speaking about the population of registered voters in Oregon.
"Today I'm going to talk about phantom voters," the man says. "The state claims that there are 3.1 million eligible voters in Oregon with 2.9 million registered. But voter registration data by county shows that there are more than 4.2 million active voters in Oregon. That's more than the entire population of the state."
The man goes on to discuss HB 2681, a law that was recently passed in Oregon. He claims the law prohibits "removing registered voters from the voter roll" and turns "all inactive voter registrations into active registrations."
The post garnered more than 2,000 likes in four days.
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Our rating: False
There are 4.3 million residents and 3 million registered voters in Oregon. Active registration is still regularly updated to remove people who die, move or become ineligible for reasons other than not voting.
Post exaggerates number of registered voters
Ben Morris, a spokesperson for the Oregon Secretary of State, told Paste BN the claim of more active than registered voters is false.
He said there are nearly 4.3 million residents in Oregon, while only 3.4 million are of voting age and nearly 3 million are registered voters. He added that only 2 million ballots were returned in the last general election.
These numbers are backed up by statistics published by the secretary of state and the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The state keeps the voter registration list, and there is no 'county' data that isn’t reflected in our data," Morris said in an email.
He also said the video's claim about HB 2681 is false.
"HB 2681 prevents a voter from becoming inactive for not voting and requires clerks to notify a voter if they become inactive," Morris said. "Oregon still updates voter registration lists continuously to remove deceased people, people who move and people who become ineligible for other reasons."
Fact check: Data disproves claim that two-thirds of eligible voters don't vote
Hazel Tylinski, a spokesperson for Oregon Speaker of the House Dan Rayfield, who was the lead sponsor of the law, also told Paste BN in an email the claim is false.
Rayfield said the law simply "establishes guardrails" around when a voter can be rendered inactive to prevent "voter roll purge tactics" and the disenfranchisement of voters.
The law ensures voters are notified of their inactive status before primary and general elections, according to a press release published by Rayfield's office. It also reactivated more than 18,000 voters with valid addresses who didn't vote.
Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The claim has also been debunked by the Associated Press.
Our fact-check sources:
- Ben Morris, July 3, Email exchange with Paste BN
- Hazel Tylinski, July 3, Email exchange with Paste BN
- Oregon Secretary of State, Dec. 15, 2022, STATISTICAL SUMMARY: NOVEMBER 8, 2022, GENERAL ELECTION
- Oregon Secretary of State, June 6, Voter Registration Comparison by County: June 2023
- U.S. Census Bureau, July 1, 2022, Population Estimates, July 1, 2022, (V2022)
- Oregon Legislative Assembly, June 1, 2021, House Bill 2681
- Dan Rayfield, accessed July 5, Oregon Bucks National Trend, Rayfield Champions Voter Access Legislation
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