Lane County Republicans question delay in removing inactive voters from rolls

Does the cleanup delay threaten ballot security in the next election? Lane County elections officials say no, because Oregon law bars ballots from going to inactive voters, even as Republicans and District 8 candidate Bill Vivian press the state over a backlog of old registrations.

Vivian raised the issue with Lane County Republicans, arguing that Oregon waited more than two years to resume routine cleanup of outdated voter records. The debate centers on whether the delay weakened election integrity or simply left old names on the file while leaving the vote-by-mail process unchanged.

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read announced on January 9, 2026, that county elections offices would restart routine maintenance under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and Oregon law. State officials said about 800,000 registrations, roughly 20% of Oregon’s voter file, were classified as inactive, and about 160,000 of those had been inactive long enough to be canceled under the restart process. Read’s first directive required county clerks to cancel registrations that were inactive before July 20, 2017. A second directive changed the language on voter confirmation cards to support future maintenance.

Lane County Elections says it follows Oregon law and does not mail ballots to inactive voters. Under state rules, inactive registrations are not moved to the inactive file during the 60-day period before an election, and an inactive voter must update the registration before casting a ballot. County officials also say they maintain the voter list daily and remain confident that only active voters receive mailed ballots.

The argument comes against the backdrop of Oregon’s long-running mail ballot system. Limited use began in 1981, some elections were permanently conducted by mail in 1987, and voters approved permanent vote-by-mail for state primary and general elections in 1998. That history has made Oregon a frequent target for national scrutiny, even as local officials say the system is built to prevent inactive records from turning into mailed ballots.

The voter-roll fight has also moved into federal court. In August 2025, a federal court allowed a challenge brought by Judicial Watch, the Constitution Party of Oregon and two voters to proceed. A separate ruling in June 2025 said the same group faced an uphill battle. For Lane County, the immediate question is narrower than the political rhetoric around it: whether routine cleanup changes who can vote next, or only how accurately Oregon tracks who is still active on the rolls.