Mail in voter ballots in Oregon

[mooaks]

We receive our ballots, in my case, one for me and one for my wife in an envelope. Inside the envelope is a secret envelope that will contain your ballot when you have penciled in the little area beside the candidate or referendum of your choice. When you have finished your ballot, you place it inside the SECRET
envelope, seal it and then sign your name on the place provided. The SECRET envelope is placed inside of the return envelope with a return address sticker if you have one and a 42 cent stamp placed on it. Drop it in the mail box and it will be returned to the County Clerk's Office. Once the signed secret envelope is at the County Clerks office, The ballot has already been assigned a number that coincides with your signature. The signature is checked by machine for validity (whether it be block printing or cursive) It is fast, as they have your signature on file and it is thrown up on a screen. Once the validity has been certified then your ballot is placed in an optical scanner for counting. They have a back up machine in case one fails. The system is fairly fast. My county is about 25,000 (not all eligible voters) but my midnight, you pretty much know how the election is going. By the time for the morning television news, you have the entire state wide results..

I like it because it eliminates the need to pick up seniors and provide them with a ride ($4.00) per gallon for gasoline)

People that are home bound can vote also, making it more inclusive.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The ballots are sent out in plenty of time and usually have plenty of time to get them filled out and in the mail box, rain or shine. We've used the system for so long and I can honestly say that I have never heard a complaint about it. It's just the way it is in Oregon, and to some of the younger voters, it is the only system they know.

I can well remember going to my assigned polling place. picking up my ballot and finding an empty booth, voting and driving home. We don't have to do that any more, eliminating the staff at the polling places, booths, etc.

It would be so much better than caucusing (heavy on the cussing)

In a situation like this Florida and Michigan, I see no reason why Hillary would not pick up even more votes.

[Lodi]

You know, I'm starting to think that ALL voting should be done by absentee ballot. Period. People could even photocopy or scan their completed ballot, as a paper trail. :)

[no_more_bush]

The Hillary campaign needs to make sure every old folks home in Florida recieves these ballots and completes them.

[Patsy]

You know, I'm starting to think that ALL voting should be done by absentee ballot. Period. People could even photocopy or scan their completed ballot, as a paper trail. :)

Remember 2000 with all that counting and there was some shady stuff going on. But, I digress.

I was watching Fox (hate to admit it) and Florida has never had a mail-in vote and there is grave concern that it would in fact disenfranchise more voters i.e Service Personnel, absentee voters and the minority population whose addresses are not current than the original vote or a new Primary.

These were Congresspersons and they think this is not the time to "experiment" with this type of vote as the stakes are very high and voter awareness is peaking and they have no precedent for this and feel it will be even harder to get through than a Primary at this stage.

That was their thought and I think for this occasion they're right. They actually think the turn out was so high not just because of the Presidential race, but there was a very important tax initiative on the ballot as well. The election was certified and they would like to have the delegates seated as is, but are open to some ideas.

I actually think a re-do might benefit Hillary at this stage after Obama has been linked to Farrakhan and this Rezko trial is in the fore front now. She could end up with a much greater lead as Edwards would no longer be on the ballot.

[johnny51981]

I actually think a re-do might benefit Hillary at this stage after Obama has been linked to Farrakhan and this Rezko trial is in the fore front now. She could end up with a much greater lead as Edwards would no longer be on the ballot.
Not to mention, Obama's abandoning the people of Florida and saying they shouldn't be heard and their votes not counted.

[BloodDAnna]

So Oregon is NOT caucusing correct? Just a primary ballot? I'm in SW Washington and am looking forward to your election since ours was such a debacle.

[johnny51981]

So Oregon is NOT caucusing correct? Just a primary ballot? I'm in SW Washington and am looking forward to your election since ours was such a debacle.
Their's is a primary. But they do not "go to the polls" it is 100% mail in voting.

[mooaks]

It's a fine system for us, no muss no fuss! The primary in Oregon is on May 20,

[skc1976]

Well, remember, the Washington Primary was actually a lot closer than the caucus lead on. Then again, caucuses suck. So here's hoping that Oregon might vote very closely. If anyone has friends there, get the ground game running!

[johnny51981]

Well, remember, the Washington Primary was actually a lot closer than the caucus lead on. Then again, caucuses suck. So here's hoping that Oregon might vote very closely. If anyone has friends there, get the ground game running!

Well, our (Washington State) Caucus AND Primary combo confused quite a few people because some thought that they didn't have to go to the caucus because their vote would be counted in the Primary. One or the other (preferably the primary).

[emmyCA]

We receive our ballots, in my case, one for me and one for my wife in an envelope. Inside the envelope is a secret envelope that will contain your ballot when you have penciled in the little area beside the candidate or referendum of your choice. When you have finished your ballot, you place it inside the SECRET
envelope, seal it and then sign your name on the place provided. The SECRET envelope is placed inside of the return envelope with a return address sticker if you have one and a 42 cent stamp placed on it. Drop it in the mail box and it will be returned to the County Clerk's Office. The system is fine.



I have friends and their families living in OR. I will call them tommrow to tell them why I support Hillary and why they should. Hope my case will make sense to them...

[Patsy]

I have friends and their families living in OR. I will call them tommrow to tell them why I support Hillary and why they should. Hope my case will make sense to them...

EmmyCA, I have no doubt that your case will make sense. I've been reading your posts and they are all very well thought out and articulate.

Not to worry on that front.

[hobbitt]

Well, our (Washington State) Caucus AND Primary combo confused quite a few people because some thought that they didn't have to go to the caucus because their vote would be counted in the Primary.

In my neighborhood, which is overwhelmingly Democrat, I polled my neighbors after the caucus. I spoke to the people at 12 houses around me. All said exactly the same thing.

In elections, they usually use the mail-in ballot, because it is so convenient. That they have never gone to a caucus and will probably never go.

That they were going to vote (and all but one person was pro-Hillary) until they heard that the primary ballot "would not count."

(Which means that, in 12 residences, some of which have apartments, 31 ballots would have been for Clinton, 1 for Obama.)

That they were angry at the Washington State Democratic Party for this "caucus mess," and they were very angry that they were ignored. And angry at the Washington State Democratic party for clinging to the old "back room" politics.

This is very much a working-class neighborhood, no Starbucks in sight, no chi-chi wine bars, no Microsoft millionaires.

I wrote to the Washington State, the King County, and the 34th LD democratic organizations. I sent over two dozen emails. I received ONE response. And the response was "It is the fault of [Secretary of State] Reed for wasting taxpayers money. He never should have interfered in our process."

'our process' means the old style, incredibly complex six-step caucus system. No one quite understands it. At these caucuses, no one has to show proof of registration, no one has to show ID, no one even has to show proof of age. (And at the caucus I attended, that would have been quite interesting! So many very young Obamaites there).

Many counties in Washington are switching to All Mail-in System. No more pull-the-lever polling places. No one day only voting (you can get a ballot well in advance of Election Day), and certainly no 1 P.M. on Saturday and you had best not be late or we will lock you out caucus.

It is NOT a "waste of money" to allow everyone to vote. And it should not be left up to the party leaders to get to decide how people should vote, or who should get the Washington electoral votes.

Of those 32 neighbors, seven have English as a second language and say they would feel uncomfortable in a caucus. One is in a wheelchair and does not leave her home. Four women have young children and could not attend, even if they wanted to. Five people work shifts, and could not attend, even if they wanted to. And three young workers said that Saturday is the only day they have for errands, appointments, shopping and could not attend, even if they wanted to.

700,000 people voted in the Washington Primary. Who knows how many more would have voted if it "counted."

I know for a fact that 32 more would have, in one small, West Seattle neighborhood.

The Washington State caucus system has to go! This is not 'democracy in action.' This is cigar-filled room old pols determining the outcome.

[mooaks]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Sounds like you almost have the same version as the Texas two-step. Voting should be an enjoyable experience. One that makes you feel proud to have participated, Not feel like you participated in one of those Readers Digest Sweepstakes deals. Caucuses should be banned from politics. The only work the demographics for a certain group or groups of people.

[johnny51981]

700,000 people voted in the Washington Primary. Who knows how many more would have voted if it "counted."

Which is sad, considering we have a total population of almost 6 million....

[Viktoriya]

We receive our ballots, in my case, one for me and one for my wife in an envelope. Inside the envelope is a secret envelope that will contain your ballot when you have penciled in the little area beside the candidate or referendum of your choice. When you have finished your ballot, you place it inside the SECRET
envelope, seal it and then sign your name on the place provided. The SECRET envelope is placed inside of the return envelope with a return address sticker if you have one and a 42 cent stamp placed on it. Drop it in the mail box and it will be returned to the County Clerk's Office. Once the signed secret envelope is at the County Clerks office, The ballot has already been assigned a number that coincides with your signature. The signature is checked by machine for validity (whether it be block printing or cursive) It is fast, as they have your signature on file and it is thrown up on a screen. Once the validity has been certified then your ballot is placed in an optical scanner for counting. They have a back up machine in case one fails. The system is fairly fast. My county is about 25,000 (not all eligible voters) but my midnight, you pretty much know how the election is going. By the time for the morning television news, you have the entire state wide results..

I like it because it eliminates the need to pick up seniors and provide them with a ride ($4.00) per gallon for gasoline)

People that are home bound can vote also, making it more inclusive.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The ballots are sent out in plenty of time and usually have plenty of time to get them filled out and in the mail box, rain or shine. We've used the system for so long and I can honestly say that I have never heard a complaint about it. It's just the way it is in Oregon, and to some of the younger voters, it is the only system they know.

I can well remember going to my assigned polling place. picking up my ballot and finding an empty booth, voting and driving home. We don't have to do that any more, eliminating the staff at the polling places, booths, etc.

It would be so much better than caucusing (heavy on the cussing)

In a situation like this Florida and Michigan, I see no reason why Hillary would not pick up even more votes.
I agree, we have a good system in Oregon. I just want to make sure that it will be the same in Florida and Michigan: secret envelop. People receive them well in advance. Only registered democrats, state residents will receive ballots. Also our ballots are made from different kind of paper with couple colors on it. I want to eliminate possible photocopies.

[hobbitt]

Which is sad, considering we have a total population of almost 6 million....

Sorry. I was inexact. I meant democrats. 700,000 democrats and 530,000 republicans voted in the primary. And of course the democratic votes "did not count" so I presume that many dems did not vote.

[mooaks]

Talk of the Nation was having a discussion on voting by mail in MI and FLA this morning, and it was my understanding that the states are in favor of a revote by mail, but State Laws have to be changed to accommodate the vote by mail. There is an exception in FLA but it only involves a referendum not a Primary Candidate. I'm sure that those house and senate wizards, can manipulate the changes necessary to accommodate this temporary change. After all, they manipulate everything else.

[johnny51981]

Sorry. I was inexact. I meant democrats. 700,000 democrats and 530,000 republicans voted in the primary. And of course the democratic votes "did not count" so I presume that many dems did not vote.

That is still only 20% of the population...but that population count includes underage, felons and un-registered. But still, when you think about it, that is a very sad number and totally tells us that a Caucus is not the majority of opinion of the people.

And then with the Beauty Contest....er...I mean Primary, who's to say they all just voted for Obama because he already won the Caucus?

[mooaks]

Our system is pretty darned good! Apparently if they (Florida) has provisions for
mail voting if they are pressed to it for some reason, then they must have an optical scanner.

[BloodDAnna]

Our mail in ballots are the same, secret yellow envelope inside the bigger one, you sign and date the back and seal the flap over it. I just wish I would have known more about the caucus process before mine so I could have physically brought my family members instead of taking their "I already voted for her and mailed it already". But really I didn't know that the primary ballots were just a beauty contest until I was 30 minutes into the caucus and they were about to lock the place up.

[hobbitt]

That is still only 20% of the population...but that population count includes underage, felons and un-registered. But still, when you think about it, that is a very sad number and totally tells us that a Caucus is not the majority of opinion of the people.


Those figures were for the primary. No exact figures are available for the caucus.

The Washington Democratic Party website states that 200,000 people attended the caucus, but do not give any details.

And of course the Secretary of State has no figures for the caucus since the state was not involved.

[G4Hillary]

I know for a fact that Hillary can win in Oregon. We better make it happen. They need to send in Ace Smith from California to man that operation. Send in the California, Arizona, and Nevada crews to win Oregon.

Oregon is Clinton Country. The campaign needs to be very very aggresive there. With mail in ballots there is absolutely no excuse.

Hillary must use her California operation to dominate Oregon. We would have won Washington had it been ballots. There are no excuses. The west coast campaign better be working on this right now!!!

[rene.d]

What really annoys me is, I don't see how anything they do in Florida will be fair.

If they revote, then they ignore the millions of votes that were already cast.
There was someone on the news from Florida who said the law that moved the Florida primary up was passed in a Republican controlled congress, and that a bunch of Democrats went to Howard Dean and told him to help, and Dean......
Dean said, "don't worry, your delegates will still be seated."

The whole thing just sounded so amateur hour.

The only good thing that can happen is if the Democratic Party takes this colossal mess and redeems it by actually reforming the nominating process to make it fair. For 2012.

Just my opinion :)

[johnny51981]

Those figures were for the primary. No exact figures are available for the caucus.

The Washington Democratic Party website states that 200,000 people attended the caucus, but do not give any details.

And of course the Secretary of State has no figures for the caucus since the state was not involved.

Yeah, I'm just trying to say that a caucus, by no means, truly represents what the majority of the people want. That's all I'm saying.

[xyndau]

I know it's off topic, but did Mississippi have early voting? Just wondering if there was any chance for a slight boost for Hillary from early balloting. I'm dreading tonight.

[Jayling]

Well, Mississippi does have Absentee Voting (http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2008/index.asp), but it doesn't appear they had the same type of 'early voting' that Ohio and Texas did.

My low-expectation scenario would have the Delegate spread 11 for Clinton and 22 for Obama out of the 33 available (11 difference). My better scenario is 14 Clinton and 19 for Obama (only 5 Delegate difference).

It all depends on the percentages in each Congressional District for 22 Delegates, and then by the statewide vote for the remaining 11 Delegates.

Jay :)