Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 2022 midterm elections, where nationwide the fundamental issue of elections themselves are on the ballot. That is correct: nearly 350 candidates in races across the country are MAGA Republicans repeating the ridiculous assertions that the 2020 election was "stolen" and that vote-by-mail systems are highly suspect.

These claims remain 100% unsubstantiated. They are lies. And yet, the truth is that many of the election deniers running for state and local offices may find themselves running the electoral process in their respective states after November 8.

This is a very dangerous time for our country. Democracy itself is at stake.

Oregonians have a long and proud tradition of vote-by-mail. Since 1998, when Ballot Measure 60 made us the first state to conduct elections exclusively by mail, Oregon has demonstrated that vote-by-mail is safe, accessible, accurate, and secure. And it remains overwhelmingly popular, which is why so many states have followed our example to enact vote-by-mail. Finally, the pandemic demonstrated that vote-by-mail was more than just a convenience – it actually became a necessity to allow people to vote while keeping them safe, healthy, and socially distant.

The Republican election deniers who seek to undermine our democracy and limit the ways that Americans can vote have one goal in mind, which is to control the outcome of who wins an election. Rather than accept that their candidate lost fairly in 2020, they'd rather take us back to an ugly time in our history when civic participation was discouraged, rather than encouraged.

This is more than flat-out wrong: it is dangerous and it undermines the fundamental nature of our democracy.

Democrats are fighting back to expand voter participation and resist the MAGA movement to put election deniers in charge. We need to stand united against these threats to undermine and erode our fundamental systems of democracy.

I can think of no greater threat nor more important reason than to mark the ballot for the Democrats who are running against election deniers in local, state and federal contests across the nation.

Courage,

Earl