Prying apart different policy positions between Republican candidates for secretary of state Dennis Linthicum and Tim McCloud takes some prying.

Although we aren’t endorsing in races for the May primary, we do want to provide information that might help you make up your mind. We watched the recent forum — hosted in part by City Club of Central Oregon — to look for differences. A third Republican candidate, Brent Barker, declined to attend.

Much of the discussion was about voting in Oregon. Both candidates were suspicious of the potential for fraud in vote by mail and believe more should be done to ensure election results are valid.

“I think it is impossible for me as a previous candidate to say within any certainty that the results that were delivered to the public over the last several election cycles were valid in total,” McCloud said. He said because of the strong political alliances in this state he said it was “impossible to believe” that the previous two secretaries of state “have been able to act with any sort of moderate honesty.”

Linthicum and McCloud both said they are concerned about the chain of custody of the ballots. Linthicum said there are election discrepancies.

“So the real question is: Are these known discrepancies, do they impact a large number of voters?” he asked. “Are they big? Are they few and far between? Are they significant? With the veil of secrecy that is cast over the evidence, we don’t know that.

They both advocated for more voting in person.

Where there was more clearly policy space between the two candidates is in what they said would be their priorities for the role of the secretary of state in auditing state government. They were not necessarily disagreeing but stressed a different approach.

McCloud said he was not going to make pre-emptive declarations of how he would use the state’s auditing power “to protect our people against government waste and abuse.” He said he would use it wisely and not as a political tool.

Linthicum said he would focus on those state departments that have a powerful statewide impact. Education, transportation, water resources, housing, human resources and public health were some departments he listed.

The most noticeable difference between the two was not in policy. It was in their closing statements.

Linthicum noted his expertise and professional background in dealing in information systems and how that would be helpful for the office — in particular in implementing the new software for the new campaign finance regulations. He has experience in opening a variety of small businesses. Living off the grid with no outside electricity on a ranch gives him a unique perspective on energy and stewardship of the land, he said.

McCloud pointed out he is a political outsider. He is not in political office, not a long-term politician. He didn’t say it, but Linthicum is a sitting member of the state senate. McCloud emphasized he is like most voters, going to a job every day. He said the ongoing challenge of being a Republican in an election in Oregon is that “as soon as you hit the general election it is a different animal.” He said he is the best equipped to meet that challenge.

It is best, of course, to watch the forum for yourself. You can do that here: tinyurl.com/Orgopsos.

We will follow this up with a look at the related forum for the Democratic candidates, as well.