Turnout only at 20 percent, but county elections chief expects it to be high at the end

By A.K. Dugan, Lebanon Express writer

The Linn County Elections Office will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, due to the high interest in the Nov. 4 election. Anyone with questions may call at 967-3831 or drop by the office on the second floor of the Linn County Courthouse, 300 S.W. Fourth Ave., Albany.

As of Monday, turnout in the general election was at 20 percent, with 13,090 ballots returned to the Elections Office out of 64,439 ballots issued, said Linn County Clerk Steve Druckenmiller.

He expects the final turnout to be about 90 percent, based on interest in the election. When the postal service took three days to deliver ballots, due to problems in the Salem postal center, the elections staff got lots of calls from people wondering why one person in the family got a ballot and others didn't. Also, new registrations are about 1,000 higher than for most presidential elections.

To make sure their vote counts, all voters should be sure to sign their blue outer envelope, Druckenmiller said.

The elections staff has begun to signature-check each ballot. If ballots arrive without the required signature on the blue envelope, election workers attempt to contact the voter and ask him or her to come in and sign it, but are unable to as time before election day gets short.

Druckenmiller expects a lot of ballots to come in just before Nov. 4. He encourages people to return ballots if they have decided how to vote because results will be available earlier on election night and spreading the processing of ballots over more time is more cost-effective.

Year-round, the elections office employees five workers. That is supplemented before elections with part-time temporary help at the counter and 60 to 90 part-time temporary workers processing ballots. Briefly, the process consists of scanning each signature to compare it with the voter's registration signature, opening the blue envelope and separating it from the inner envelope containing the ballot, opening the white inner envelope, removing the ballot and filing it by precinct. Each step is done by a different person so the people opening the white envelope and filing the ballot do not know who the voter was.

On election day, ballots are counted by precinct.

Druckenmiller said more than 2,000 ballots have been returned by the postal service as undeliverable. When his workers have time, they will sort through the undeliverables to determine why the ballot could not be delivered. Many have postal labels that indicate the voter has moved. The voter registration of those who moved within Linn County will be updated after the election. Those who moved outside the county or who left no forwarding address will not be.

"It is very time-consuming," he said.

Anyone who has not received a ballot and has moved should contact the elections office by phone about updating their registration.

Few of the undeliverable ballots will be for people who have died, he said.

The county elections office goes through obituaries in all the local papers on a daily basis. State law allows elections offices to deactivate deceased voters identified in newspaper obituaries.

In addition, elections offices in Oregon receive lists from state and county health departments of people who have passed away in the county. These are not complete because voters registered in Linn County may die elsewhere.

If the ballot is returned marked deceased, the law requires further investigation and confirmation before removing the name from the active voter list. Likewise, if someone goes into the elections office and reports that a voter has died, elections staff has to confirm it with an official source.

Vote-by-mail provides better audit trails and accountability than voting at polling places, Druckenmiller said. When he hears about problems in other states, "I'm glad I'm in Oregon."