Oregon’s Elections Director, Deborah Scroggin, will resign from the position next month, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
On Friday, Scroggin submitted her letter of resignation, which will be effective January 20, 2023.
In her letter, Scroggin noted the 'extraordinarily challenging' situation that elections officials find themselves in.
"Mis and disinformation have made the work of administering elections extremely challenging. Increasing complexity and funding uncertainty has stretched the state and counties thin. These challenges make the work we do all the more important," said Scroggin.
We have made progress by building strong systems at the state level that will protect democracy in Oregon, and I want to thank everyone on the team for their hard work these past two years.
“Deborah has a lot to offer elections administration at a time when this work is so critical for our country,” said Secretary of State Shemia Fagan. “I thank Deborah for her service to Oregon and wish her the best of luck in the future.”
Molly Woon, who currently is a Strategic Projects Director and is a senior advisor to the Secretary of State, will take over for Scroggin until a permanent replacement is hired.
More from the Secretary of State’s Office:
Ms. Woon has over 15 years’ experience in public service, working in the state legislature, in city and county government, and in the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office for Secretary Fagan and former Secretary Jeanne Atkins. In her current role, she serves as the primary liaison between the Secretary and the Oregon Association of County Clerks and accompanied Secretary Fagan on the vast majority of her 36 county elections office meetings in the past year. Among her recent projects, she led the work to disperse $2 million in election modernization funds, she is leading several innovation projects focused on election modernization, and she was responsible for day-to-day coordination between the Elections Division and the Secretary of State’s Executive Team during the November 2022 election.
“Molly Woon is the perfect fit to provide stability in the Elections Division during this transition,” said Secretary Fagan.