By Aileen Hymas
For Columbia Gorge News
THE DALLES — As the Nov. 3 midterm Election Day approaches, a new tool from the Secretary of State’s offices will allow voters to receive notifications when their ballot is received and when their vote is accepted for counting. The free service will also alert you if there is a problem with your signature.
Officials in Oregon are not only emphasizing early voting, but they’re also encouraging voters to put their ballots in drop boxes over mailing them in.
“Mail can get lost,” Wasco County Clerk Chrissy Zaugg said at a regular meeting of the Wasco County board on Oct. 21. “Use a drop box because that’s a guarantee we’re gonna get your ballot.”
Zaugg added that any ballot box in Oregon will securely deliver a ballot to the correct county to be counted.
“So, if you’re in Portland for the day and you have your ballot, ‘whoops, I forgot to drop it,’ you can drop it in a Multnomah County drop box, and they’ll send it to us,” she said.
Sign ups open for state ballot tracker
With a first and last name and a zip code, voters can see the status of their ballot at BallotTrax, OregonVotes.gov/Track. Participants can choose email or text updates to receive live information about their votes processing.
This service comes as part of a $1.25 million in emergency election funding allocated by the Oregon legislature in September to install more ballot boxes and provide a means for voters to follow the status of their ballot in real time.
BallotTrax does not update a voter’s registration. All voter information is protected from third parties and securely stored with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, under the same authority as voter registration.
All votes are still confidential.
New drop box in Tygh Valley
Zaugg announced that on Oct. 20 her office sent an agreement to the county to place a new drop box at the Tygh School Community Center by Oct. 30.
She noted that when ballot boxes are placed, they are bolted down to concrete and surveilled 24/7 with security cameras.
National conversation about mail in voting
Wasco County Commission Chair Scott Hege said, “When I was on a recent conversation with people from the Secretary of State’s office, there was a lot of discussion about vote by mail.”
“I am calling on all Oregonians to remain vigilant for any attempts to intimidate voters,” Secretary of State Tobias Read said in an Oct. 18 video statement. “We’ve already read reports of federal agents stationed in front of ballot boxes in Washington, D.C. This is completely unacceptable, but unfortunately it’s not surprising for this administration.”
On Sept. 14, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) struck down an executive order issued by President Trump in March that would have restricted mail-in ballots, requiring among other provisions that the United States Postal Service remove ballots mailed by individuals not on a voter list provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
SCOTUS declined the order by arguing the government would be unlikely to succeed at accomplishing its stated goal through the means cited, while lower court judges in 23 states and the District of Columbia challenged the order by citing constitutional provisions in the Elections Clause (Art. I, § 4, cl. 1) and the voter-qualifications provision (Art. I, § 2, cl. 1), which limit federal involvement in elections.
Read underscored that it is illegal for anyone to interfere with an eligible citizen’s right to vote.
“If you see something suspicious at a ballot box, please notify the Secretary of State’s office, local law enforcement or your county elections office immediately,” he said.
To track election results, visit the Secretary of State’s website, your local election office, or columbiagorgenews.com.
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