In October, the Oregon voters’ pamphlet started arriving in mailboxes ahead of the November election.
The booklet lists candidates running for president, vice president and U.S. representative in addition to those vying for county roles. But Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, are both absent from the pamphlet.
Some people on social media claimed Trump and Vance were omitted as a form of alleged election interference and voter tampering.
“Oregon wins the award for election interference. They conveniently omitted Trump-Vance from the voter information guide. It’s just another example of the blatant bias and manipulation that plagues our electoral system,” said one post on X.
VERIFY reader Brenda messaged us to ask if these claims are true.
THE QUESTION
Does Donald Trump’s absence from the Oregon voters’ pamphlet represent “election interference”?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, Donald Trump’s absence from the Oregon voters’ pamphlet does not represent “election interference.”
WHAT WE FOUND
Oregon did not omit Donald Trump and JD Vance from the voters’ pamphlet ahead of the November election due to alleged election interference as viral posts falsely claim.
The Oregon Secretary of State and the Oregon Republican Party both say the Trump campaign decided not to submit a statement to appear in the state’s voters’ pamphlet earlier this year. But both Trump and Vance will still appear on the Oregon general election ballot.
“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 said in an X post on Oct. 10.
On the same day, the Oregon Republican Party also posted a statement on its website explaining why Trump was omitted from the voters’ pamphlet ahead of the 2024 general election.
“Many people are wondering why no campaign statement from President Donald J. Trump was included in the Oregon Voters’ Guide which arrived in Oregonians’ mailboxes this week. The decision not to submit a statement was made by the Trump campaign earlier this year,” the Oregon Republican Party said.
“Rest assured: President Trump WILL be on your ballot, along with other strong, common-sense Republican candidates,” the Oregon Republican Party added.
The Trump campaign also chose not to submit a statement for the Oregon voters’ pamphlet back in May, which was mailed out to Oregonians ahead of the primary election. It’s unclear why the campaign decided to opt-out.
In Oregon, there is a $3,500 fee for presidential or vice presidential candidates to appear in the state’s voters’ pamphlet, as well as a required submission of 500 verified signatures, according to a manual published by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Elections Division. After meeting those requirements, presidential candidates can submit a statement of up to 350 words.
The requirements go down depending on the significance of the office. For example, for city offices, the cost to appear in the pamphlet is $600 and 200 verified signatures.
The Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, appear in the pamphlet. Green Party candidate Jill Stein also opted to appear in the voters’ guide after meeting the requirements.
VERIFY partner station KGW in Portland, Oregon, recently reported that state elections officials have been flooded with calls from people questioning why Trump is not in the voters’ pamphlet due to the misinformation circulating online.
“Oregonians who need assistance will now have to wait because some individuals operating in bad faith are misleading people online,” said Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade. “We need to do more as a country to discourage this kind of behavior. Spreading rumors and false claims of election interference does nothing to help Oregonians.”
VERIFY partner station KGW contributed to this report.
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