Letters: Perspective on Oregon voting error; No need for more commissioners; Not Trump

Keep perspective on voting error

Migrant Oregonians are and have been part of the fabric of our community since before Oregon joined the union in 1859 but with the recent DMV automatic voter registration error some are dehumanizing and demonizing whole communities.

In September 2024 the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles discovered a clerical error that resulted in them transferring the information of 1,259 people to the secretary of state mistaking them for U.S. citizens. None of these people intended to register, represented themselves as eligible to vote, or made any claim to U.S. citizenship. New procedures and training are already on their way at the DMV.

The Secretary of State’s office has said they are “sorry for the error and want to be clear that the people mistakenly registered bear no responsibility for it.” The DMV’s mistake has not and will not affect the results of any Oregon elections. It affected 1,259 people — 0.04% of the people registered to vote in Oregon. Out of those only ten voted and one was found to be a U.S. citizen.

Driver licenses for all and automatic voter registration in Oregon are successful and worth protecting. Let’s stop conspiracies because what happened could have been prevented with leadership, processes, training, and staff who reflect the cultures and customs of all Oregonians.

Oregon residents who were erroneously registered are eligible for free immigration legal services from Oregon’s Universal Representation program via Latino Community Association. Call (541) 382-4366 to schedule an appointment.

— Joanne Mina is the Latino Community Association’s Policy and Advocacy Director.

Deschutes has enough commissioners

There has been much discussion about increasing the number of Deschutes County Commissioners from the current number of three to five. The rationale behind the increase is somewhat unclear other than the current number is insufficient to meet the needs of the county. The sponsor of the measure is a local business owner who indicated that the county is not sufficiently served by the current number of commissioners, citing the size of Bend and the diverse population as the need for the increase.

The population of Deschutes County as of 2022 was slightly over 206,000. By comparison there are three commissioners in Marion county with a population of over 346,000.

Marion County faces a great number of problems that include homelessness, drug addiction, overdose deaths, population growth and more. Salem police recently announced they had over 4,000 calls for service in one week, a number far greater than Bend. Marion County has a much larger level of responsibility than anything Deschutes has. Here are the facts. Hiring two more commissioners will add $250,000 for their salary. Add to that number the costs for staff, remodeling offices and more.

With continuous costs for food, fuel and basic necessities increasing, it makes no sense to burden the citizens of Deschutes of over $400,000 in tax increases. While the city council has endorsed this idea, they haven’t been very good stewards of our money. Maybe you don’t mind paying more taxes but I for one see no common sense in this idea.

— Owen Herzberg, Sisters

Don’t vote for Trump

If you haven’t made up your mind to vote for Harris, time is getting short. Trump lost the debate because his cognitive issues are getting worse making him more unhinged every day, even worse that the ones that everyone claimed Biden was showing so Republicans should force him to bow out. He can’t even discuss policies but only claims he has concepts. He’s only doing revenge rallies and now has a list of taking more of women’s rights away even posting on his so-called Truth Social when it’s actually Lie Social, that’s only for his followers who are gullible enough to believe everything he says. The racial hate that he is stirring up is only one example of how far his lies will go. They are the only one that believe all his lies so he can’t quit telling them over and over again.

If the loss of more women’s rights aren’t enough to stop you from voting for a convicted felon, then can you afford an estimated $2,600 that the top economist experts say Mr. Trump’s tariffs will cost each American. So much for one of his so-called concepts. Everything he does is for the rich and nothing for the benefit of the middle class as this tariff is one more example. Republican’s need to stand up and take their party back from the strangle hold of this person who should have never been elected President and definitely should not be allow to hold the highest office in our country.

Stand up and restore our country to greatness. Do not vote for Trump!

— Sue Ooten, Madras

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