This document summarizes Kate Brown's activities as Oregon Secretary of State in September 2014. It discusses her speech in Denver about voter rights, participation in the Pendleton Roundup, and efforts to promote National Voter Registration Day on September 23rd, including visiting high schools to register and educate students. It also covers Brown launching a social media campaign to promote voter registration, participating in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness, and students and officials across Oregon supporting voter registration efforts.

1. September
21,
2014
SEPTEMBER
September
8
I
spoke
at
a
Denver
conference
about
what
Oregon
is
doing
to
help
eligible
voters
exercise
their
right
to
vote.
September
10-­‐14
Nothing
is
quite
like
the
Pendleton
Roundup.
Let
‘er
buck!
September
23
The
Oregon
edition
of
National
Voter
Registration
Day
National
Voter
Registration
Day
Comes
to
Oregon
1
This summer, I became president
of the National Association of
Secretaries of State (NASS). As
president, I challenged my fellow
secretaries to tackle an issue that
is very close to my heart: civics
education. Our first project:
National Voter Registration Day
(NVRD), which fell on Sept. 23rd.
During NVRD, Secretaries of
State across the country made a
special effort to encourage all
eligible voters to register. If you
2
are not registered to vote, you
cannot exercise one of your most
fundamental rights. Since I was
first elected Secretary of State,
we made registering to vote more
convenient by putting it online.
Just go to www.oregonvotes.gov
and click on My Vote.
Registering people to vote is an
important step. But we also want
an informed voting population --
people who not only want to vote,
but have a good understanding
On
site
for
the
NVRD
filming.
3
how our government functions. I think
the best way to accomplish this goal is
to start early by educating high school
students. On NVRD, high schools
across Oregon didn’t just help
students register, they first showed
them two informational videos,
including one on the history of voting
in America. I personally visited four
high schools to help register and
inform students. Throughout the run-
up to Election Day, I will be on the
road giving presentations to students

2.
September
21,
2014
2
to the ALS Association or
challenging them to do the bucket
challenge themselves. I decided
to do both.
I teamed up with former Oregon
Governors Barbara
Roberts and Ted
Kulongoski and Idaho
Representative Holli
Woodings. We all
were doused
simultaneously. I
challenged
Washington and
Montana Secretaries
of State Kim Wyman
and Linda McCulloch.
about the importance of civic
engagement. I believe Whitney
Houston said it best when she sang,
“I believe that children are our future.
Teach them well and let them lead
the way.”
On Sept. 2nd, I launched a social
media campaign to promote NVRD
and to encourage support from the
community. The slogan is: “I’m
registered to vote. Are you?”
Left:
Founders
of
Voodoo
Donuts
Kenneth
Pogson
and
Tres
Shannon
with
their
creation.
Right:
Senators
Diane
Rosenbaum
and
Arnie
Roblan
pose
with
me.
Kate
Brown’s
ALS
Ice
Bucket
Challenge
I was recently challenged to
perform the ALS awareness Ice
Bucket Challenge.
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis) is known more
colloquially as “Lou Gehrig’s
Disease.” It is the progressive
degeneration of motor neurons,
which causes muscles to break
down over time to the point of
death.
This summer, many folks have
recorded videos of themselves
pouring buckets of freezing
water on themselves to raise
awareness for ALS,
encouraging friends to donate
As of Sept. 5 the ALS
Association has received $109.1
million in Ice Bucket Challenge
donations! I’m proud to be a part
of such a fantastic campaign.
Students, TV personalities,
legislators and citizens from
across Oregon participated by
taking a picture of themselves
with the “I’m registered to vote.
Are you?” poster. One
participant from The Dalles has
been voting for so long she
once cast a ballot for FDR! It’s
gotten off to a great start,
including a replica of the poster
Barbara,
Ted,
Holli,
and
I
take
the
challenge.
Oregonians
Love
to
Vote!
deep-fried by Portland’s Voodoo
Doughnuts.
You can download the poster
yourself from the Secretary of
State website.
At the end of August, Governor
John Kitzhaber proclaimed
September 23 Oregon Voter
Registration Day, our state
version of NVRD. I can’t tell you
how satisfying it was to lead this
project because I know firsthand
how powerful a single, couple,
or handful of votes can be.