Oregon elections office to restart phone lines after surge of calls about Trump missing from voters’ pamphlet

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – The Oregon Elections Division is resuming phone operations shortly after shutting down all calls due to an overwhelming surge of out-of-state callers complaining that Donald Trump is not in the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet.

On Thursday, the elections office told KOIN 6 News the callers had been responding to false information about why the former president did not appear in the pamphlet, including social media rumors making election interference claims.

However, the Oregon Secretary of State’s office said the decision for Trump’s omission was actually made by his own campaign when it did not submit a statement or pay the required $3,500 to appear in the pamphlet.

“The Trump campaign chose not to participate. It was not an omission by officials. Trump/Vance will still be on your ballot,” the Oregon Secretary of State’s office wrote in a post on social media last week.

Over the weekend, the office will begin accepting voicemails which will be screened for “specific, answerable questions about the election.”

“Our phones are back up, but in this case, it would be more accurate to say that we will be screening voicemails,” said Laura Kerns with the Secretary of State’s office. “At this time, we plan to fully reopen Monday.”

Kerns previously told KOIN 6 that staffers “can say with 100% certainty that nothing like this has happened” in the Elections Division for the last decade.

“We sometimes are on the receiving end of campaigns that attempt to change a decision we’ve made, but it hasn’t escalated to the point where people are threatening violence against our workers on the calls,” Kerns said.

KOIN 6 News reached out to the Trump campaign for a statement on the controversy, and received the following comment from Director of Regional Communications Rachel Reisner.

“With less than 20 days until Election Day, Oregon voters can visit www.donaldjtrump.com to read more on President Donald J. Trump’s commonsense agenda. On November 5, Americans will flock to the polls to vote for President Trump and turn the page on Kamala Harris’ disastrous policies that led to historic inflation, high costs, allowed over 10 million illegal immigrants to cross our southern border and made communities less safe.”

Clackamas County Clerk Catherine McMullen told KOIN 6 News her team has not experienced specific threats, but noted heightened voter concerns as ballots are yet to arrive.

“We have done some cyber security training with everyone on staff in my three divisions,” McMullen said. “We also have updated all of our badges to make them higher in terms of technology and access, provided some more physical safeguards, and then just increased staffing.”

In addition to the Clackamas County Elections Office in Oregon City, she said the county plans to to set up a second Voter Service location at the Happy Valley Library.

McMullen encouraged residents to contact their local election officials with any questions ahead of voting, adding, “We are committed to transparency and security throughout this election.”

It is a crime in Oregon to harass or threaten election workers, and the office said they are referring abusive messages to local lawn enforcement as they partner with the FBI, Oregon State Police and other agencies to ramp up security leading to the election.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security shared the following statement with KOIN 6 News:

“ The United States remains in a heightened, dynamic threat environment and we continue to share information with our law enforcement partners about the threats posed by domestic violent extremists in the context of the 2024 election. Violence has no place in our politics, and DHS continues to work with our partners to evaluate and mitigate emerging threats that may arise from domestic or foreign actors. “

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

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