Oregon elections officials say they had to shut down phone lines at the secretary of state鈥檚 office on Thursday after a flood of 鈥渙ut-of-state callers鈥� overwhelmed the system.
According to a release, the deluge of calls is a result of online conspiracy theories, suggesting Oregon elections officials kept Republican-presidential nominee Donald Trump out of the state鈥檚 voters鈥� pamphlet.
While it鈥檚 true Trump does not have a statement in the pamphlet, that is not because of any Oregon official. Trump鈥檚 own campaign decided not to submit a statement for the pamphlet, which is sent out to voters throughout the state. Trump also didn鈥檛 submit a statement for the Republican primary in May.
As the Oregon Republican Party said in to tamp down misinformation: 鈥淢any people are wondering why no campaign statement from President Donald J. Trump was included in the Oregon Voters鈥� Guide which arrived in Oregonians鈥� mailboxes this week. The decision not to submit a statement was made by the Trump campaign earlier this year. Rest assured: President Trump WILL be on your ballot, along with other strong, common-sense Republican candidates.鈥�
The announcement from the secretary of state鈥檚 office came the same day a popular conservative account on X, Libs of TikTok, of the voters鈥� pamphlet that showed Trump is not included.
鈥淥regon voter pamphlets do not include Donald Trump,鈥� the post reads. 鈥淗e also is not listed on the Oregon State Government website under presidential candidates. What鈥檚 going on?鈥�
X, formerly Twitter, subsequently attached a note to the post that indicates Trump opted not to pay the $3,500 to land a statement in the pamphlet. Neither that information nor the state party鈥檚 assurances have apparently been enough to stop outraged calls to state elections officials.
鈥淭here were some initial questions about why Donald Trump鈥檚 name was not included in the voter pamphlet, but really just today is what it ramped up with all of the phone calls coming into our office,鈥� said Laura Kerns, a spokesperson with the Secretary of State鈥檚 office.
Kerns said the office received around 400 calls Thursday before opting to shut down phone lines at around noon. Many of those calls were abusive, she said, while some were explicitly threatening.
As an example, Kerns shared a voicemail from a man who incorrectly believed that Griffin-Valade had removed Trump from consideration in Oregon. The caller repeatedly referred to Griffin-Valade in explicit and vulgar terms, and at one point called on her to be 鈥減ublicly hung for treason鈥� for taking Trump and Vance off the ballot.鈥�
鈥淢AGA 2024,鈥� the caller said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 stop us. We鈥檙e gonna steamroll you.鈥�
Under Oregon law, it is a crime to harass or threaten an election worker. Kerns said elections officials are referring threats to state and federal law enforcement officials.
鈥淥regonians who need assistance will now have to wait because some individuals operating in bad faith are misleading people online,鈥� Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said in a statement. 鈥淲e need to do more as a country to discourage this kind of behavior. Spreading rumors and false claims of election interference does nothing to help Oregonians.鈥�
The Secretary of State鈥檚 Office suggested voters who need assistance visit or write an inquiry to elections.sos@sos.oreogn.gov.
As of Thursday afternoon, the office said it expected the phone lines to only be down for one day.
Election Day is Nov. 5 and ballots are already making their way to voters.
This story comes from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
Copyright 2024 Oregon Public Broadcasting
