Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

After successfully authorizing AVR at Medicaid offices in 2023, this past year the Oregon Legislature was able to pass smaller pro-voter reforms that increase voter language access laws. By increasing language access in voter pamphlets, the Legislature helped ensure a broader base of voters can more easily learn about the issues on their ballots. As a top tier state that enacted minor but important improvements, Oregon received a B+ on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Oregon Started at the Beginning of 2024

• Automatic Voter Registration: Secure AVR
• Online Voter Registration: OVR+
• Same-Day Registration: No
• Restoration of Rights: Prison Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: Vote by Mail
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: Yes
• Early Voting Opportunities: In-Person Absentee
• ID Requirements: No Document Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Oregon as of 2024, we considered the state a top tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other top tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

2024: This Past Year

Legislative Action

The Oregon Legislature made two minor, but important, language accessibility improvements this past year.

• SB 1533 requires the secretary of state to translate voters’ pamphlets into 10 of the most commonly spoken languages, up from the existing five languages.
• SB 1538 allows candidate statements and arguments on measures to be translated into the most commonly spoken languages of each county where the statements will appear in voters’ pamphlets, specifies what information must be included in county voters’ pamphlets, and increases the number of blank voter registration cards that may be requested from the secretary of state to register voters, among other things.