The campaign behind the initiative, Safer Portland, submitted 63,000 signatures for verification to the city earlier this month. A Wednesday report provided to WW by the county’s Elections Division shows the second sample is tracking similarly to the first one. It also alleged, with little evidence to support the claim, that city elections officials were tampering with the results due to political bias against law enforcement. “What I have seen in recent days regarding the 1PDX2026 initiative signature verification process reflects poorly on our state’s entire election system,” Read wrote. Deborah Scroggin, manager of the city’s Elections Division, in response told WW her office was surprised to receive Read’s letter “given our communication” with the SOS’s office in recent weeks.