Oregon senator wants to spread vote by mail nationwide

October 3, 2006

Oregon’s vote-by-mail elections have been so successful the federal government should subsidize the transition in other states, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden says.

Wyden has introduced a bill to appropriate $110 million over three years to help states convert to the mail ballots that Oregon voters have been using for years.

After nearly two decades of tests in local and special elections, including one in 1996 that put Wyden into the Senate, the state started voting by mail in all elections in 2000.

Wyden said Oregonians have found voting by mail is convenient and gives them more time to study candidates and issues, while the elections themselves are cheaper and less prone to errors.

from Juine Chada, Field Representative - Benton, Lane, and Linn Counties
Office of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
Eugene Oregon
541.431.0229
541.431.0610 (fax)