Vote by mail Is voting by mail only supported by Democrats? Why or why not? I am a native Oregonian, now 75 years old. I left the state in 1982 to take a job in Idaho, then moved in ‘96 to Pennsylvania. For health reasons, my wife and I returned home in 2017 and was annoyed to find that the governing party had changed from mostly Republican leadership to Democrat.  I was told that Portland and Eugene, the most liberal communities in the state controlled the vote which led to not only Democrat governors but last year, both houses of the legislature were controlled by Democrats. Coincidentally, vote by mail was originally approved by a bipartisan legislature in 1980. In just a couple more years it was implemented state-wide for all elections.  History of postal voting in Oregon	 1981 The Oregon Legislative Assembly approves vote-by-mail for local elections, at the discretion of the county; at least one polling place in the county had to remain open on election day.[2] 1987 Vote-by-mail becomes permanent, with the majority of Oregon's counties making use of it. 1989 A House bill to extend vote-by-mail to include the 1990 primary elections was defeated in a 33–27, non-party-line vote.[2] 1992 Governor's Task Force on Local Government Services identifies statewide vote-by-mail as one of the most significant opportunities to save money on conducting elections.[3] 1995 Oregon becomes the first state to conduct a federal primary election totally by mail. 1996 U.S Senator Ron Wyden is elected by mail with a 66% turnout, succeeding Bob Packwood. 1998 Oregonians confirm their overwhelming support for vote-by-mail by passing Measure 60. 2000 Oregon becomes the first state in the nation to conduct a presidential election entirely by mail. About 80% of registered voters participated. 2019 Oregon becomes the first state not to require paid postage on ballot return envelopes. Measure 60 eliminated restrictions on vote-by-mail and established it as the single form of voting for elections in Oregon. It also required vote-by-mail to be used for biennial primaries and general elections as well as eliminating polling places. Supposedly, both Democrats and Republicans support vote by mail. Maybe. But I find it hard to believe that it is coincidental that the last Republican governor was Victor Atiyah, who was governor when I moved to Idaho. Every governor elected since then has been a Democrat. Doesn’t that seem odd? And now the state government is pushing for carbon tax, raises taxes on gas, and has wasted millions of dollars on ill-advised projects. And dear governor Brown declared by fiat that the entire state is a sanctuary for illegals. Of course, voters in Portland and Eugene don’t see a problem. They have their hands full with growing numbers of homeless people, a growing problem for most every Oregon community.  I don’t have a solution, but I hope federal efforts to clean up the voting system extends to Oregon with an audit of our voting system.