SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division shut down its phone lines Thursday after a barrage of calls from people responding to false claims that the state’s voter pamphlet does not feature Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The voter pamphlet does mention the former president as a candidate and notes that he refused to make a statement about why people should vote for him. Trump will appear on the state’s ballot.
A post on The Oregon Republican Party issued a statement noting that the decision not to make a statement was a choice Trump’s campaign made earlier this year.
But the false claim of election interference continued to spread on social media, and on Thursday the Elections Department said its phone lines were overloaded.
“Oregonians in need of help will now have to wait as some individuals operating in bad faith are misleading people online,” Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said in a news release. “Spreading rumors and false claims about election interference does not help the people of Oregon.”
