4A
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Ballot
security
will be
the issue
More than 400 Oregonians, all of them living
overseas, will have the opportunity to take part in a
voting experiment this November. They’re legal resi-
dents of Jackson and Umatilla counties, and they’ll
be able to use their smartphones to vote back home.
Theirs is the latest in a series of experiments in
mobile voting fi nanced, at least in part, by Tusk
Philanthropies. Tusk offi cials believe mobile voting
can improve voter participation and improve election
security in the process.
Notices about the smartphone system have been
sent to about 400 voters with legal residence in
southern Oregon’s Jackson County and another 63
with residence in Eastern Oregon’s Umatilla County.
All are registered voters living overseas.
Participation will be voluntary, and those who opt
out will be mailed absentee ballots as usual.
If, however, they choose to take part, they’ll down-
load an application called Voatz that uses encryption
and blockchain technology to keep ballots secure.
The system works only on relatively new smart-
phones, which include a variety of enhanced security
features, including biometric features. It’s the latest
in a series of pilot projects Tusk and Voatz have col-
laborated on.
Ballot security is, naturally, a major question about
the process. Blockchain is a decentralized system in
terms of security and storage that makes election
tampering diffi cult to impossible. In some ways, it
works like Google’s documents program that allows
the individual who creates a document to decide who
can see it. The creator can see whatever changes
anyone else has made.
Clearly, smartphone voting won’t be for everyone.
That said, it may well persuade young adults to vote
in ways going to the polls or even mailing in bal-
lots have not, and that’s not a bad thing. The key to
its success, however, remains in the hands of those
charged with keeping the process secure.
MY VOICE
What progressives really ‘exalt’ in
C
hris Woodworth responded to my
challenges to his On the Fence
(The Observer, Aug. 23) defi ning a “fair
and just” society with a My Voice (The
Observer, Sept 4). His male chauvinism
is glaringly apparent by his frequent
references to me as “Mary” rather than
“McCracken.” What better window into
Woodworth’s disrespect for women?
Woodworth insinuates I misin-
terpreted him regarding American
babies lacking unequal opportunity
at birth. He says, “of course some are
born smarter, more athletically gifted,
more musically inclined.…” But my
examples of inequality at birth were
based on economics, gender and race,
which Woodworth doesn’t touch on.
Woodworth can’t admit that by being
born a white male into a nuclear family
of means paved the way to his outcome
as a trauma surgeon. In his fi rst article,
he notes that women are underrepre-
sented as surgeons, insinuating that
females inherently possess lesser merit.
In his time, acceptance into medical
school was strongly gender-biased not
merit-based.
Yet Woodworth claims that merit
should be the sole basis for opportuni-
ties leading to successful outcomes.
In his My Voice piece, Woodworth
changed the issue from “equal oppor-
tunity vs. outcome” to “equal justice vs.
outcome” and says everyone in America
is treated with equal justice and thus
everyone is responsible for their own
outcomes. However, he believes a child
born to a low-income single mother
About the author
Mary McCracken is a
resident of Island
City.
My Voice columns
should be 500 -700
words. Submissions
should include a portrait-type
photograph of the author. Authors
also should include their full name,
age, occupation and relevant
organizational memberships.
We edit submissions for brevity,
grammar, taste and legal reasons.
We reject those published
elsewhere. Send columns to La
Grande Observer, 1406 5th St., La
Grande 97850, fax them to 541-
963-7804 or email them to news@
lagrandeobserver.com.
does not warrant governmental help
because of his mother’s “mistake.” How
does that jive with equal value of life at
conception? How about equal opportu-
nity? U.S. mass incarceration accounts
for more than $81 billion per year,
which is more than $250 per U.S fam-
ily. Now let’s examine America’s equal
justice under the law.
Look at our prison system. Our per
capita incarceration far exceeds all other
countries on earth. Don’t blame the pris-
oners. It’s systemic. Most prisoners end
up in jail because they are poor, dark
skinned, poorly educated, raised with
little guidance or can’t make bail and
are awaiting trial. That population gets
jailed for petty nonviolent crimes of little
threat to society. Meanwhile, powerful
criminals avoid jail for bringing down
entire economies, waging illegal wars,
polluting the planet, extracting public
natural resources for private gain and
assassinating political enemies. Addi-
tionally, our prisons are mostly for profi t.
Profi t for the wealthy. Equal justice?
Woodworth’s overarching labeling
and stereotyping of people attests to his
disrespect for those whose ideas differ
from his. He starts by broadly slam-
ming progressives under the guise of
complimenting me. Later he accuses
progressives of “exalting sexual freedom
over personal responsibility.” In reality,
progressives are folks who believe ev-
eryone deserves a fair shot at a decent,
fulfi lling and economically secure life.
They believe that everyone should do
his or her fair share to build this life
through education and hard work and
through active participation in public
life and that everyone should play by
the same set of rules.
The central progressive message is
one of fairness and equality with no
special privileges for the well-connected
or wealthy.
A local progressive group meets
the last Thursday of every month in
the basement of St. Peter’s Episcopal
Church, 1001 O Ave., La Grande, from
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Socializing and
enjoying snacks begins at 6 p.m. Every-
one is invited to see what progressives
really “exalt” in.
YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Donald Trump: The
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414;
fax 202-456-2461; to send comments, go
to www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C.
offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-
224-3753. Fax: 202-228-3997. Website:
merkley.senate.gov/. Email: merkley.
senate.gov/contact/. Portland offi ce:
One World Trade Center, 121 S.W.
Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR
97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900.
Pendleton offi ce: 310 S.E. Second St.
Suite 105, Pendleton 97801; 541-278-
1129; email elizabeth_scheeler@
merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce:
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510-3703; phone:
202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717. Website:
wyden.senate.gov. Email: wyden.senate.
gov/contact/. La Grande offi ce: 105
Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850;
541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; email
kathleen_cathey@wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd
District): D.C. offi ce: 2185 Rayburn
House Offi ce Building, Washington,
D.C. 20515-0001, 202-225-6730; fax 202-
225-5774. Website: walden.house.gov/.
Email: walden.house.gov/e-mail-greg.
La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400,
email jorden.noyes@mail.house.gov.
U.S. Department of Justice:
Main switchboard, 202-504-2000;
comment line, 202-353-1555.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 900
Court St. N.E., Salem, OR 97301; 503-
378-4582.
Oregon Secretary of State Bev
Clarno: 136 State Capitol. Salem OR
97310-0722; 503-986-1523.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias
Reed: 350 Winter St. N.E., Suite 100,
Salem, OR 97301-3896; 503-378-4329.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem,
OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
State Sen. William S. Hansell
(29th District/Pendleton): Salem offi ce:
900 Court St. NE., S-423, Salem, OR
97301; 503-986-1729. Website: www.
oregonlegislature.gov/hansell. Email:
sen.billhansell@oregonlegislature.gov.
State Rep. Greg Barreto (58th
District/Cove): Salem offi ce: 900
Court St. NE., H-384, Salem, OR
97301; 503-986-1458. Website: www.
oregonlegislature.gov/barreto. Email:
rep.gregbarreto@oregonlegislature.gov.
State Rep. Greg Smith (57th
District): Salem offi ce: 900 Court St. NE.,
H-482, Salem, OR, 97301; 503-986-1457.
Heppner offi ce: P.O. Box 219, Heppner,
OR 97836; 541-676-5154; Website: www.
oregonlegislature.gov/smithg. Email:
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com; Jay Blackburn, jayblackburn@
cityofunion.com; Walt Brookshire, walt-
brookshire@cityofunion.com.
City of Cove: Mayor Del Little, (503)-
508-6727 504 Alder Street P.O. Box 8
Cove, OR 97824 City Manager Donna
Lewis, (541) 568-4566.
Union County Commis sioners:
Donna Beverage, Steve McClure, Jack
Howard; 1106 K Ave., La Grande, OR
97850; 541-963-1001; fax 541-963-1079.
Wallowa County
Commissioners: Paul Castilleja, Todd
Nash, Susan Roberts; 101 S. River St.,
Room 202, Enterprise, OR 97828; 541-
426-4543, ext. 11; fax 541-426-0582.
Joseph City Councilors: Mayor
Teresa Sajonia; Martin Hamilton;
Pearl Strum; Tanya Collier; Michael J
Lockhart; Patty Bufford 541-432-3832;
P.O. Box 15, Joseph, Oregon 97846; 201
North Main St.; cityofjosephoregon@
gmail.com.
rep.gregsmith@oregonlegislature.gov.
City of La Grande: Mayor Steve
Clements, City Manager Robert Strope;
P.O. Box 670, La Grande, OR 97850;
541-962-1309; fax 541-963-3333.
La Grande City Councilors: Mayor
Steve Clements, Gary Lillard, Nicole
Howard, Corrine Dutto, Mary Ann
Miesner, Jim Whitbeck, Justin Rock;
through the City Manager’s offi ce, 541-
962-1309.
Imbler City Councilors: Mayor Mike
McLean, Corrine Wilfong, Herman Ort-
mann, Mark Howell, Rick Vicek, Joan
Harding, Jason Berglund; 180 Ruckman
Ave.; P.O. Box 40, Imbler OR 97841;
541-534-6095.
Union City Councilors: Mayor
Leonard Flint, LeonardFlint@cityofu-
nion.com; John Farmer, johnfarmer@
cityofunion.com; Leslie McMillan; Sue
Hawkins, susanhawkins@cityofunion.
com; Matt Later, mattlater@cityofunion.
541-963-3161
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