Greater Idaho group files complaint against opposition
Published 10:00 am Tuesday, May 9, 2023
- Signs reflecting property owners’ dissatisfaction with the government in Salem such as this one in Lostine urge approval in the Tuesday, May 16 election of a measure directing the county commissioners to consider Wallowa County’s best interests in moving the state line so the county becomes part of Idaho. The proponents of the border move Friday filed a complaint with the state alleging reporting improprieties on the part of opponents of Ballot Measure 33-007.
ENTERPRISE — As promised, proponents of the Greater Idaho movement filed an official complaint with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office on Friday, May 5, alleging improprieties in reporting of campaign financing.
Ben Morris, communications director with the Secretary of State’s Office, confirmed the complaint had been filed.
Morris said Monday that the next step involves the Elections Division, which will review the complaint, determine what’s in it and decide whether to open an investigation.
“Sometimes it can take a couple of weeks for that decision to happen,” he said.
As a result, it’s not likely any action will occur before the May 16 election.
“It’s unlikely they’ll take any action before the election given how close we are to it,” Morris said.
In its complaint with the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office, the Greater Idaho movement said Portland-based groups are behind the opposition.
Matt McCaw, spokesman for the Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho group, said last week that there is an indication that Portland-area groups have been behind some videos and a flyer opposing the ballot measure on the May 16 ballot. He said YouTube videos attributed to Western States Strategies, a Portland-area progressive group, claim responsibility for paying for the videos.
Efforts to contact Western States Strategies were unsuccessful.
McCaw said that the Move Oregon’s Border group is a grassroots organization funded by hundreds of small donors. He said the largest corporate donation has been $2,000. One transaction for $8,500 listed on ORESTAR, the Secretary of State’s online searchable campaign finance reporting system, was a move from one part of Move Oregon’s Borders to another, McCaw said.
None of the financing reported on ORESTAR is connected with any opposition group.
Ballot Measure 32-007 requires the county Board of Commissioners to meet twice a year to consider the county’s best interests in becoming part of Idaho. Eleven other counties have approved similar measures since 2020. By a slim margin Wallowa County voted a similar measure down in 2020.
Morris said he has no idea who may be behind the opposition to 32-007.
He said if it is determined there is a violation of the law, it’s rare such violations would involve criminal charges. The result is more likely to be civil charges related to the filing of expenditure reports. If that is determined, fines could be assessed.
