Vote By Mail

The ACLU, Common Cause, and political parties are regulars, and they may not work directly with LWV. Disability Rights Oregon is very active but strictly advocates for their limited constituency, not to benefit voters overall. The State Library, TBABS, Talking Books and Braille Services, works directly for vision-related concerns. Keep in mind those advocating for current ballot measure issues, eg League of Conservation Voters, education communities, etc.

See The SoS Election Statistics page for general, primary, special election turnout, and ballot return history since 2000. OR VBM statistics, a comprehensive history, from 1981 up to 2006.

Vote by mail, automatic voter registration, pre-paid ballot postage, pre-registration for younger voters, all have been opposed. From NPR, 2018, "If and when a bank gets robbed or a car gets stolen, we don't stop using banks or cars. We enforce the laws we have in place."

Encourage elections offices to prepare ASAP. Note this report was written in March 2020, in response to COVID concerns, and has been updated: Establish needs (ballot quantity, cost, time, and materials’ availability), for paper, printing, processing, and staffing/labor needs. Equipment needs, requirements to acquire and have it in place, system compatibility, with staff trained to use it. Many are concerned now with delivery “pipeline” delays. We are concerned that veteran poll-working crews, many older and at higher COVID risk, may not be available. Coordinate a publicity campaign with trustworthy branding, a multi-faceted outreach to various communities and media, especially social media. Include partners like the Dept of Education, youth groups, our Leagues of Women Voters, Common Cause, the ACLU, disability and minority voters rights’ groups, Chambers of Commerce, City Clubs, etc. Oregon has compiled election statistics from 1992-2018, for cost per ballot (received), and per voter, with turnout. Note, some of the variance smaller voter turnout is due to special elections.

Oregon supports unparalleled transparency. Contact your county elections office to observe the election process. See the Oregon VBM Manual, p. 22, and the Election Law Summary Manual, p. 20.

Oregon is VBM so all ballots are mail-in (and can be delivered to dropboxes and Elections’ Offices). To replace a ballot, see (ballot help): If your ballot arrives damaged, you make a mistake, spill something, lose your ballot, or for any other reason, contact your county elections office for a replacement ballot or visit in person for help. Ask for any special COVID instructions to visit in person.

Oregon ballots must be received by 8 pm on election day. Late ballots are not counted. They must be received in the mail, into dropboxes/drop sites, or delivered to the County Elections offices. The League pushes voters to get their ballots in on time, with heavy publicity. Campaigns and political parties contact voters daily using official daily ballot “match-back” reports, to get ballots in on time. In 2020, we urged prompt voting and ballot return. There were no late acceptance provisions despite COVID concerns for adequate elections’ staffing and USPS cutbacks possibly slowing ballot delivery.

See Oregon Vote by Mail Procedures Manual. Experienced staff usually just needs a day’s review, newbies a half-day to train. We have been concerned about election staffing since many staffers are demographically COVID susceptible.

Drop site requirements are set in statute. Oregon’s dropbox map is linked in Vote411.org, active ~3 weeks before election day. See VBM Manual, p. 10 for dropbox security.

Ballot counting in Lane County, Oregon, for example, usually starts the Friday before election day. NO results are ever released before polling closes. Counting continues on election day, until completed. Election certification is set for no later than 30 days after elections. See our 2022 election calendar for state statute references. Use the Oregon Revised Statute (law) look-up link from UO Law. Elections law is Chapter 260. Harder to navigate, and the official source to cite, is Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS).

Training people to compare and match signatures and the process is covered in the VBM Manual under Staffing, p. 36.

Per our state Elections Director, 2 big reasons- Voters forget to sign the ballot or the signature doesn’t match the one on file.

Voter Registration: If voters aren’t registered, they can’t vote! Publicize voter registration deadlines widely and remind often. Oregon’s 2016 DMV #MotorVoter only prompts for renewals every 8 years and not everyone drives. We haven’t provided party registration online. The actual paper postcard is easily overlooked. The default, assigning as a nonaffiliated voter (NAV), has increased dramatically, probably related to this. Note, NAV is not the same as a member of the Independent Party of Oregon. Ballot Mailing Alerts: Alert voters when ballots are being mailed and urge them to contact their county elections’ offices if they haven’t gotten theirs. We have strongly recommended that voters enroll with the state Elections Division, which currently cannot confirm that this program will be supported in 2022, MyVote: Register to vote online, Verify registration- up to date and valid Check ballot status, mailed out, received, processing completed Track Your Ballot Sign up for emails to confirm ballot status. Encourage voters to sign up for ballot tracker, or whatever program your area may use, to track ballots, from mailed, to received, to counted. Here in CA, Multnomah CO, OR, King CO WA. PUSH Deadlines- Ballots must be received in Oregon by 8 pm election day-postmarks don’t count, and now, with pre-paid envelopes, our state Elections Director cautions that envelopes aren’t postmarked anyway. Be sure to add realistic mail processing time, longer if post offices have closures, as we did a few years ago, and now with cutback delays reported. Secure Procedures See the videos and Manuals for thorough safety protocols addressing election ballot processing staff teams. They are always balanced by political parties in each team with everyone stopping together to ensure ballot security, for meal or restroom breaks, etc.

Oregon started testing VBM in 1981, gradually expanding use, starting with small, local special elections. Please see the current linked videos above and below because messaging has evolved.