Oregon and California State Election Administrators Pledge Neutral and Independent Election Administration

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, a Democrat, and California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, a Republican, today responded to public demand for greater integrity in elections administration by signing a five-point pledge to remain neutral, independent and fair in their oversight of elections. "When public confidence in elections suffers, our democracy suffers," said Bradbury. "It is our responsibility as Chief Elections Officials to restore that confidence and to conduct our elections with the highest level of integrity."

Bradbury and McPherson acknowledged that public confidence in elections was undermined when other Secretaries of State were accused of favoring their political party and playing politics with elections administration in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. By signing the neutrality pledge, the two Secretaries of State have acted to remove the threat of such political posturing with a direct, public commitment to fair and independent elections administration.

Concern about the political activity of state election administrators led to last year’s introduction of the Federal Election Integrity Act (S. 391) by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), a bill that would prohibit Secretaries of State and other state election officials with supervisory authority over the administration of Federal elections from participating in the political campaign or management of a candidate running for Federal office in their state. The bill has received little attention and has not been addressed by the Senate Rules Committee, to which it was referred.