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Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson has responded to a request from the White House for voter data: Pay us $500 and you can have the same information that everybody else gets for $500.
At least 24 states have at least partly declined the Election Integrity Commission's request made Thursday for all publicly available voter data, which may include full names of registered voters, dates of birth, party registration, last four digits of Social Security numbers and voting history.
The request is part of President Trump's ongoing efforts to prove his false contention that millions of undocumented immigrants voted last fall. Experts warn that participating in the commission's effort could be the first step in purging citizens from the voting rolls.
Richardson, a Republican, has taken flak for most of day for his silence on the request—including letters from the Democratic Party of Oregon and the state U.S. congressional delegation.
Shortly before 5:30 pm, Richardson released a long letter outlining suggestions for how the White House could coordinate with states to reduce threats to election systems, and repeating what he has told Trump before: Oregon has experienced almost no voter fraud.
Richardson saved his key message for the end of the letter: If the White House wants Oregon's voter information, it can pay the same $500 that campaigns and pollsters do. And the state won't hand over Social Security numbers or other data that Oregon law says is protected.
"Oregon policy prohibits disclosure of some of the information that you requested, such as social security numbers and drivers' license numbers," Richardson writes. "Please see ORS 247.945(4) and ORS 247.955. It is my duty to follow these statutes. Oregon law provides that any person may receive a statewide list of electors upon payment of $500. It is a violation of Oregon law for voter registration data to be used for commercial purposes."
It's not as flashy a response as the refusals by other states. But it serves the same purpose.
Trump's commission was looking for the last four digits of Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers, military service history, information regarding felony convictions, and overseas citizen information.
Those requests indicated an effort to show that people who voted were not qualified to do so—and purge state voting rolls, a process that tends to target minority populations and in this case would likely target Latinos.
And by denying crucial parts of that request, Richardson appears to be keeping Oregon out of that process.