Tag Archive for 'Elections'

Questions Arise About Voter’s Pamphlet Arguments

Published on January 5, 2010 in Ballot Initiatives and Elections. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Our Elections Division has received a number of complaints about some of the arguments that made their way into the Voter’s Pamphlet for the upcoming Special Election.

The Albany Democrat Herald explains the stir-up:

The state last week mailed Voters’ Pamphlets to 1.7 million addresses. Backers and opponents paid $500 per statement to the state to have their arguments for and against the measures included.

Kevin Looper of “Our Oregon,” a Portland-based nonprofit, managed to get his arguments supporting the measures — labeled as opposition — placed last in the lineup of arguments against them. He also managed to be first in the opposition column.

This has raised the eyebrows and the ire of a number of Oregon voters, so we wanted to clear any confusion surrounding the process for filing an argument to be placed in the Voter’s Pamphlet and the role of the Secretary of State’s office in that process.

Any individual who files an argument to be printed in the voters’ pamphlet indicates on the filing form whether the argument submitted is in support or opposition to the measure. All arguments are printed in the voters’ pamphlet in the order they are received by our office. Our office then reviews each argument and if it appears that the information regarding a measure number or the designation of whether the argument supports or opposes the measure is incorrect, we contact the author to inquire if they made an error. If the author advises us that it is not an error, we are required to place the argument in the voters’ pamphlet as they have indicated, and in the order received in our office. This process is outlined and dictated by state law in ORS 251.260.

The Secretary of State’s Office does not have the legal authority to verify a given statement’s accuracy nor to edit it for content.

A recent article from the Oregonian provides a little historical background on the topic:

Here’s something to keep in mind: The secretary of state has compiled Voters’ Pamphlets since 1903. It’s a long tradition meant to help the public make important decisions. But, by law, the secretary of state cannot verify the truth and accuracy of statements in the pamphlet.

“We have a pretty strong constitutional protection of free speech in this state,” Secretary of State Kate Brown said Saturday.

Instead of state-issued statements, Brown said the Voters’ Pamphlet provides Oregonians “with a full range of arguments.”

Don’t be surprised if you detect some sarcasm and satire among those statements. The lead-off “argument” in opposition to Measure 66 was submitted by Kevin Looper, who is helping to coordinate the “pro” campaign.

In one of the most outrageous examples, in 2004, the phony “Defense of Heterosexual Breeding Coalition” put a statement in the pamphlet in support of Measure 36, a constitutional amendment recognizing that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

We hope that this clears up any misconceptions that may be out there about this process. If you have any further questions, go ahead and leave us a comment below.

The Cost of Voter Registration

Published on January 5, 2010 in Elections and HAVA. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

This month, the Pew Center on the States in Cooperation with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, released an Oregon Case study on the The Real Cost of Voter Registration. The study looks at the costs incurred at the State, county, city, and township levels of government in Oregon during the 2008 election. The study found that Oregon spent $9.7 million dollars in state, local and federal dollars on voter registration during that election year.

Here are some highlights of where that money was spent:

  • The single biggest expense was $1 million to operate and maintain OCVR, the Oregon Central Voter Registration database, required by federal law and paid for in part with federal money.
  • The state spent $200,000 to print voter registration forms,
  • State agencies spent $2.8 million on voter registration activities
  • Counties spent $6.9 million, most of it in payroll costs.

Being the first state to undertake an honest analysis of these costs is a tremendous learning opportunity for the State of Oregon. As Secretary Brown put it, “It’s important to understand that this is the first statewide registration cost survey. So we have no way of knowing whether our costs are high, low or average compared to other states. We’ll learn more as other states take this on.”

And what did we get in terms of measurable gains in registration with this $9.7 million dollars?

Well, we can start with 76,337 (2.8% of those eligible) new registrants from January 1 to the primary election deadline of April 29 of 2008. Add another 144,957 (5.4% of those eligible) registrants from the primary until the general election deadline for an 8.2% total voter registration jump in just one election cycle. But winning registering new voters is only part of the story, a great deal of resources are dedicated to updating voter registration information to insure their accuracy. This includes any address and phone number changes, party registration, etc. for the 2,153,914 registered voters in the State of Oregon, no small task!

Secretary of State Brown was excited about the results of the study and the opportunity to help streamline the voter registration system in Oregon, starting with the opening of the online voter registration in March of 2010. When asked, she said, “Pew has done a terrific job of analyzing costs from all levels of government. This is the first statewide study of its kind in the country and will be a great help to the other states. Knowing the real costs can help us develop a system that spends less on bureaucracy and registers more eligible voters.”

From The Ballot Box to The Scanner

Published on November 19, 2009 in Elections. 0 Comments Tags: .

Elections are the bedrock of our democracy and something we at the Secretary of State’s Office take very seriously.

As we noted on this blog, there was an election on November 3rd in many of our State’s counties. In talking to elections officials around this special election, I came away with the impression that despite measures to allow for observation of the process by bystanders, officials are still combating the perception that our elections are susceptible to corruption.

In light of this, I took the opportunity to head over to the elections offices in both Clackamas and Washington Counties in order to take a behind the scenes tour of the elections process.

My first trip was to Clackamas County Elections, where I was welcomed by County Clerk Sherry Hall. Below is a slide-show that will take you from ‘your’ ballot being picked up at an official drop-off location, to the ballot being scanned and stored for tabulation.

Authorized Personnel Only!

Authorized Personnel Only!
◄ Back
Picture 1 of 28

The door to the ballot reception/counting room. This room is kept under lock and is only accessible by elections staff.

Continue reading ‘From The Ballot Box to The Scanner’

Election Day

Published on November 3, 2009 in Elections. 0 Comments Tags: .

Today is election day in many counties throughout the State of Oregon!

That’s right, counties throughout the state will be partaking in the democratic process in order to weigh in on issues large and small. For instance, the city of Bandon is asking for money for police services, while the Shangri-La Water District in Lane County is asking for money for system repairs. The city of Ashland wants to extend a tax on food and beverages to pay for waste-water services. Finally, the Rogue River Rural Fire Protection District is asking for money to maintain services.

If you are in a County, which is having elections, it is too late to mail your ballot in. You must take it to an official drop site in order for it to be counted.

Official drop sites will be open for 8 hours or more until 8PM for depositing cast ballots. Each of the County Clerk’s offices will also be open from 7am-8pm for issuing and depositing ballots. Each county’s election site will have a list of official drop off locations. To find a link to your County’s election site, please check our handy reference site.

Q&A with our New Elections Director

Published on October 15, 2009 in Elections and Q&A. 0 Comments Tags: .

On Aug. 31, Stephen N. Trout became the new director of the Oregon Elections Division. An attorney, Trout came to Oregon after a national search and brought with him extensive expertise in election law and election administration at the state and local levels of government. Here are a few questions for Steve about the state of the Oregon Elections Division.


Q. What are biggest challenges facing Oregon elections?

A. We face a series of changing rules at the state and federal level with limited resources. We also face significant changes in technology, like the challenges in developing our online voter registration system.

Q. How will that work?

A. We’re in the process right now of developing the system and we expect to have it in place by March 1, 2010, in time to register for the May primary.

It will allow eligible Oregonians to register online but only if they have a signature on file with the state Motor Vehicle Services Division. In other words, you’ll only be able to register online if you have a driver’s license or some kind or a state ID card.

Q. What’s the advantage?

A. First of all, it’s going to be cheaper because there will be less paperwork at the state level. It’s going to make registration easier for Oregonians in the military. It will be easier for the homebound or those with disabilities. And it’s going to be easier for young people who spend a lot of time online. It’s going to make registration easier for everyone.

Q. Will it be secure?

A. It will be very secure. The signature will be the validating element. It carries the same security protections as those in place now with paperwork. Even more, I should say. When registering on paper, you have to swear under penalty of a class C felony the information is accurate. When registering online, you cannot fill out the information until you’ve sworn that oath and a violation carries a penalty of five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

Q. Do we have a secure voting system?

A. I have full confidence in the security of all of our voting systems. Anyone could break into Fort Knox if there weren’t any guards, and voting systems are no different. Our voting system guards are our laws and regulations, and rules and procedures. We are constantly updating them to maintain the highest level of security possible. The counties submit security plans to our office which we review to make sure that their voting processes and equipment are as secure as possible. Our most important job is to provide the citizens of Oregon with the most secure and accurate voting systems possible.

Q. What are your long-term goals for the Elections Division?

A. We want to continue to be at the forefront of administering elections in this country. We’ll use all the resources at our disposal to make the system as efficient as possible and to make sure every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast a ballot in as accurate and secure a manner as possible.

Q. How good is our system compared to other states?

A. Our vote-by-mail is the model for the nation and we’ll continue to improve on that. Our system is one of the cleanest, most efficient, most accurate and most secure in the country and we intend to keep it that way.

Want to vote in the Nov. 3 elections? Register now!

Published on October 13, 2009 in Elections. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Today is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 elections.

Voters all over the state will make choices in how to administer cities, schools and a multitude of local service districts. These aren’t issues that will likely make the statewide radar, but they do matter a lot to those who they will affect. And that is what this election is about; communities making critical choices on vital issues that will affect them for years to come.

Perhaps the biggest ballot measure in the state this fall is Central Oregon Community College’s request for $41.6 million in bonds for campus improvements. Voters in all or parts of six central Oregon counties will decide the fate of the bonds.

Most of the remaining requests concern local services; fire districts, water districts, library districts, animal protection districts, amongst others. For instance, the city of Bandon is asking for money for police services, while the Shangri-La Water District in Lane County is asking for money for system repairs. The city of Ashland wants to main a tax on food and beverages to pay for waste-water services and finally the Rogue River Rural Fire Protection District is asking for money to maintain services.

Close on the heels of the registration deadline is the day when ballots start going in the mail. That will begin on Friday.

And remember to have your ballots in the hands of your local elections office no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. Postmarks don’t count.

Referenda, qualified

Published on October 8, 2009 in Ballot Initiatives and Elections. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

In an earlier blog, we mentioned two referenda that were circulating in hopes of getting on the 2010 special election ballot. Today the Elections Division has announced that both the petitions referring both HB 2649 and HB 3405 to voters have indeed received the  required amount of signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Measure 66, which will refer HB 2649 to voters gathered 98,842 valid signatures, plenty to satisfy the constitutional requirement of 55,179 needed. HB 2649, which passed in the 2009 Legislative session, concerns the State’s personal income tax.

The other referendum, now titled Measure 67 received 99,471 valid signatures, a full 80.7% of the 123,324 signatures accepted for verification. The measure will refer HB 3405, a bill which pertains to corporate income taxes, to Oregon’s voters.

This is hardly the first time that the ‘Oregon System‘ has been used to give Oregon’s voters the opportunity to repeal enrolled legislation, but it will be the first time since 2004 that Oregon has voted on  statewide referenda.

To be eligible to vote on these referenda Oregonians will need to be
registered to vote no later than January 5, 2010. Please contact our  Elections division with questions about getting registered.

Want to Run for Office? Elections is Here to Help!

Published on October 2, 2009 in Elections. 0 Comments Tags: , , .
Copyright: Imagezoo/Superstock

Copyright: Imagezoo/Superstock

Have you ever considered running for elected office? With the 2010 Election a mere year and change away, now is the time to think about filing for candidacy and our elections division is here to help!

The first thing any potential candidate should do is head on over to our elections division’s website and grab the State Candidate’s Manual for either major or minor political party affiliations. You’ll find all of the necessary forms there as well. With these manuals and forms, you’ll have all the information you need to get you on your way to filing for candidacy.

After filing, you may ask yourself, “What comes next?” Well, our Elections division has you covered there too, providing you with some basic information on a number of relevant topics; perhaps most importantly a “Quick Guide” on Campaign Finance, a Campaign Finance Manual and a Users Guide for ORESTAR, Oregon’s campaign filing system. Understanding campaign finance law can be daunting, so be sure to read through the materials carefully…and often, to make sure you’re in compliance. Also, be sure to check back with Elections January 1, 2010 as these manuals will be updated1 to reflect changes in the law made during the 2009 legislative session.

As any elected official will tell you, this is just the beginning of a long, sometimes arduous journey towards public office. You still have to: consider hiring a staff, start fund-raising, attend events, round up endorsements, and knock on doors, just to name a few things.

Still, if you think you’re ready, Elections is here to provide you with all the information you need and answer any questions you may have along the way.

The first day to file for office was September 10th of this year and all filings must be received by Elections on March 9, 2010.

[1] As a cost saving measure, the manuals will only be available online in both HTML and PDF formats starting in 2010.

Taking Care of the Voter Registration Rolls

Published on September 25, 2009 in Elections and HAVA. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Keeping track of voter registration information is serious business as it is vital to insuring that our elections run as smoothly and securely as possible. Until recently each of Oregon’s 36 county elections offices had their own voter registration list. However, the Help America Vote Act, which was passed by the United States Congress in 2002, required that all states develop “a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the State level that contains the name and registration information of every legally registered voter in the State.” In 2006 our elections division did just that, putting together the Oregon Central Voter Registration (OCVR) database; and the system has born tremendous fruit. Where counties previously had problems with tasks like tracking down duplicate registrations, they can now access voter registration information across county lines through the OCVR database instantaneously in order to perform a variety of cross checking tasks.

In August of 2008 the State of Oregon and State of Washington undertook a pilot project, which sought to build on the success of OCVR implementation by comparing voter registration databases across state lines to check for potential duplicates. A fantastic overview of this Oregon-Washington pilot project written by the National Academies of Science can be found here.

On September 4th of this year, both Oregon and Washington sent out a letter (pictured below) informing voters that they may be registered to vote in both states. Attached to the letter is a short form that allows voters to indicate whether they were indeed registered in a second state and to cancel that invalid registration.

Dual Reg (OR)

Dual Reg Letters (WA)

So far, about 7,000 letters – 4,500 in Washington and 2,500 in Oregon – have been sent to the matches who came up during the check, but if you have just registered in Oregon after being registered in Washington, or vice-versa, you may want to print a copy of the letter, fill it out and send it in to your respective elections division for them to insure you aren’t registered to vote in both states on accident.

This project will help us perform a key function; tightening up our voter rolls to make sure that they are as accurate as possible. It is just another way that Oregon elections is staying ahead of the curve nationally with innovative projects.

Referenda Roundup

Published on September 24, 2009 in Ballot Initiatives and Elections. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/Images/Glossary/Referendum.jpgIn most years, the humble referendum pales in popularity to its gregarious cousin the citizen initiative.

Since 1902, the citizen initiative has given birth to all kinds of changes to our social and political structure, including the vote for women, mandated seat belt use and reworking of our tax structure. There have been 348 initiatives on Oregon ballots and we’ve passed 118 of them.

The referendum doesn’t always have the same dramatic flare or occasional high profile.  But it allows citizens to repeal an action by the Legislature, a vital check on our State government. In the last century, we have voted on 62 referenda, the most recent referendum in 2004 when voters rejected a temporary tax increase.

This year, however, petitioners are circulating petitions that could place four different referenda before voters next year. Referenda being circulated would refer HB 2649 (personal income tax) and HB 3405 (corporate income tax) to a special election held on January 26, 2010.  Two other referenda would refer to voters HB 2001 (transportation funding and gas tax) and HB 2010 (health care provider tax) to the May 2010 primary ballot.

To qualify for the ballot, a referendum needs the signatures of 4 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the most recent gubernatorial election. That translates to signatures from 55,179 registered Oregon voters.

The deadline for all four of the petition drives is 5 p.m. on Sept. 26.