06:55 PM PST on Monday, November 1, 2004

By KGW and AP Staff

Oregon Republicans sought to distance the party on Monday from a letter sent by a Portland attorney to Multnomah County's election director that questioned ballots cast by new voters who were not asked to provide identification.

KGW

A Multnomah County elections worker organizes ballots before the November general election.

The letter raised eyebrows because it appeared to be sent only to election officials in Multnomah County, one of the state's most liberal and heavily Democratic, which has seen a dramatic surge in new voters this year.

Because of Oregon's vote-by-mail system, residents are not required to present a driver's license or an alternate form of identification when voting.

On Monday, Victory 2004 GOP spokeswoman Rori Smith said, "The attorney who transmitted the letter is a volunteer, who has not been retained by the Republican Party. There appears to have been a miscommunication between two or more volunteers regarding this issue."

That statement differs from the letter, which begins: "The Oregon Republican Party and the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign have retained the law firm of O'Donnell & Clark LLP to represent their interests with regards to certain provisional ballot election issues in Multnomah County."

Kelly Clark, the attorney who sent the letter, told KGW Monday that he could not discuss the issue -- maintaining it would violate attorney-client privilege.

Clark identified Victory 2004 as the "client" and said simply his firm "believed we were authorized" to send the letter; Victory 2004 is an arm of the Bush-Cheney campaign.

"We did what we were asked to do. The issue is an important one," he said.

"We have no instructions to do anything further," said the high-profile Clark, who is also representing the Defense of Marriage Coalition -- which is spearheading efforts to amend Oregon's constitution to prohibit gay marriage.

While distancing themselves from the letter, Republican officials would not rule out the possibility that the party might in the future challenge some votes on lack-of-identification grounds, saying the topic had been discussed within the party.

"We had not formulated any position on that and there was a miscommunication with GOP staff and the attorney," Oregon Republican chairman Kevin Mannix told KGW. "So, the attorney thought it should be triggered when it had not been approved by those of us at highest level who have to look at policy issues."

Mannix said the party had no plans at this time to go to court. Meantime, Oregon election officials maintained the GOP would likely have a tough time making a case if they did decide to try and pursue legal action.

"We've already discussed the possibility of a lawsuit over that issue; our lawyers are well prepared in case they do so," said state Elections Director John Lindback. "I have thought all along that if they tried to pursue this in court, it would not be a strong case for them. The law is so clear."

Congress in 2002 passed the Help America Vote Act, aimed at curbing voting irregularities. One provision was a requirement that new voters show proof of identification when voting.

But Oregon's congressional delegation took issue with that requirement because of Oregon's unique vote-by-mail system, which had previously allowed citizens to simply send in their ballots. The bipartisan "Oregon Compromise," drafted by Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, added language creating an exception for Oregon.

The letter in question was sent from the law firm of Kelly Clark, the high-profile lawyer who has been one of the public faces behind the Defense of Marriage Coalition, the group spearheading the effort to amend Oregon's constitution to prohibit gay marriage.

Democrats and liberal-leaning organizations denounced the Republican letter, calling it an attempt to tamp down what are expected to be historic voter turnout levels in Multnomah County.

"They are trying to squelch a public relations disaster by backpedaling from the original complaint, while simultaneously keeping their plans to challenge ballots alive," said Patty Wentz, an Oregon AFL-CIO spokeswoman.

The letter had demanded that Multnomah County elections officials set aside ballots cast by people who registered without providing identification, "so that the voter's registration can be reviewed and verified, and the ballot challenged, if necessary."