Building Trust: Oregon Secretary of State

Oregon receives national praise for Voting in Oregon Feels Good ad campaign.

Last year, Secretary Fagan and the Oregon Elections Division used an innovative approach to fight false election information: ads! The Voting In Oregon Feels Good campaign addressed issues like election security and Oregon’s new postmark rule. The ads were viewed 14 million times during the fall of 2022 and drove a 259% increase in traffic to election information online. Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians viewed accurate information who probably wouldn’t have without this public education campaign. 

The campaign is receiving national praise for its innovative use of ads to “pre-bunk” false information. Staff members from the Oregon Secretary of State’s office presented the campaign at the National Association of State Elections Directors annual conference on February 17. 

State Archives Featured Black In Oregon in February.

As part of our recognition of Black History Month, the State Archives featured Black In Oregon, an online exhibit that uses archival records to illuminate the courage and resilience of Black pioneers who built lives for themselves and their families in Oregon.  

The exhibit puts their experiences in context with chronologies and related resources before telling their stories augmented by photos and original documents.  

Visit the exhibit online.  

Secretary Fagan Released the 2023 Protect Our Democracy Agenda.

Anti-democracy forces in our country are eroding trust and threatening our right to vote. In Oregon, we have a strong pro-democracy track record and the 2023 Protect Our Democracy Agenda is a roadmap for how Oregon can defend its record.  

The Protect our Democracy Agenda includes five areas of focus where we can build on Oregon’s history as a pro-democracy state. They include Investing in free, fair, accessible and secure elections, expanding access to our democracy, election security, successfully implementing campaign finance reform and updates to election laws 

Read the release or see the Secretary’s letter to state legislators, calling on them to lead in the fight to protect our democracy.  

The League of Women Voters’ Position on Defending Democracy

Citizen Participation and Access

“The League of Women Voters believes democratic government depends upon the informed and active participation of its citizens and requires that governmental bodies protect the citizen’s right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings, and making public records accessible.” LWVUS Principles “We must promote an open governmental system that is representative, accountable and responsive.” LWVUS Representative Government position Citizen participation and access are also important parts of LWVOR positions on Land Use and the Judicial System, and LWVUS positions on Campaign Finance, Citizens Right to Know/ Citizen Participation, Environmental Protection and Pollution Control, Natural Resources Public Participation, United Nations, and International Relations Trade Policy. Because of these scattered positions, we collect here our combined history of advocacy for Citizen Participation and Access.

JOIN US. We work to build a free, fair, participatory democracy with open elections and a majority rule.