September 13, 2026 1:45 p.m. 

On Thursday, the Joint Emergency Board allocated $1.25 million to the Oregon Secretary of State to expand the state’s network of secure, official ballot drop boxes and provide all Oregonians with greater transparency into the status of their ballot.

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said, “I told Oregonians I would use every tool available to ensure Oregon’s elections remain secure, accurate, and fair despite ongoing federal attacks.” Read said, “Oregonians will have more secure locations to return their ballots this election and a tool to be confident that their vote was counted.”

Secretary Read advocated for the funding request to legislators on a budget subcommittee earlier in the week. It passed both committees with unanimous support.

Emergency funding of $618,000 will pay for additional drop box locations and expenses related to an anticipated increase in drop box usage. Implementation will require county support, site preparation, and procurement.

An additional $154,000 will allow the Secretary of State’s office to provide all Oregon voters access to BallotTrax, an opt-in service that gives voters updates on the status of their ballot: when it is sent, when their county receives it, and when their signature has been accepted so their ballot can be counted. Currently five counties provide BallotTrax as a service to voters.

The remaining $480,000 will allow counties to send updated voter notification cards to inactive voters to continue the process of clearing old data from the inactive voter list. The impact on the upcoming election will be negligible because inactive voters cannot vote and do not receive ballots, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.