Suspicious robocalls warn of voter registration problems

SALEM, Ore. - State and county government offices have received dozens of complaints from voters about pre-recorded phone calls telling them their voter registrations may be out of date.

The calls are not coming from voter registration offices and local officials said most voter registration information is up to date.

Portland resident and military veteran Mark Balcom said he got one of the calls last Friday night.

"I immediately thought this is some kind of fraud," he said.

Balcom said he remembered the message on the phone as saying "one or more persons in this household will not be receiving a mail in ballot because your file has been marked inactive."

The message ended with a number to call to “fix" the problem but Balcom said was not able to write down the number at the time.

The Oregon Secretary of State's office said they don’t know the motive behind the calls. The Oregon Attorney General's Office said they are looking into whether the calls are also going to phone numbers on the "do not call" list.

When a KATU News reporter called the phone number listed on Balcom's caller ID, we just got a busy signal.

Balcom notified his friends about the fraud but said he wanted to warn more people.

"I'm afraid there are people who will fall for it," he said.

Voters can check their current registration status online here. Potential voters have until October 16 to register to vote for the upcoming election.