County election results delayed after ballot bungle posted on 06/01/2022
Clackamas County made election headlines last month from
Arkansas to New York and beyond, thanks to ballots printed with blurred
barcodes that rendered them unreadable to the county’s automated equipment. The
error resulted in thousands of ballots requiring duplication by election
workers of different political affiliations.
Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall acknowledged the blurred
barcodes in a press release dated May 4, and as of Saturday, May 28, a total of
98,187 ballots had been counted out of 116,045 received and 16,559 ballots
needing to be duplicated remained.
The county has until Monday, June 13 to certify the results.
While some results from the May primary have been decided
even before the outstanding votes in Clackamas County are tallied, voters on
the Mountain will have to wait before learning the fate of the proposed
Hoodland Park District (Measure 3-581). If formed, the district would receive
three parcels of land on Salmon River Road from Clackamas County and would
develop the Dorman Center site as a community park, with possible amenities
including a pavilion, playground, walking trails, extended community garden,
bike pump track, skate park, dog park, space for farmers market, restrooms and
onsite security.
The district would be funded by a local property tax,
proposed to be a maximum of 67 cents per $1,000 of assessed value (resulting in
approximately $200 per year on a house with an assessed value of $300,000) and
would be overseen by a board of five volunteer directors, also elected on the
May ballot.
As of Saturday, May 28, voters had cast 1,205 votes in
opposition to the proposed district against 534 in support.
Marci Slater, the chief petitioner for the proposed
district, noted that it was still too early to call it one way or the other.
“I’m not fretting over it or worried,” she said, adding that
it was still possible for the “yes” votes to be in the majority. “We left it up
to the voters.”
Should the district fail in the final tally, the county would
look to sell the parcels of land. Clackamas County Public Information Officer
Kimberly Dinwiddie-Webb noted that there is currently no timeline on next steps
with the property as the county is focused on finishing the election results on
or before June 13.
Out of seven candidates running for the district’s board of
directors, the five with the most votes as of that date were Robb Courtney,
Regina Lythgoe, Becky Fortune, Brittany Kintigh and Dannelle Wolfe.
Elsewhere on the ballot, Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam came in
third in the state for the Republican nomination for Oregon Governor, with the
early returns in Clackamas County placing him second to winner Christine
Drazan. Drazan will face off against Democrat Tina Kotek in the November
election.
On the local level, Raz Mason will be the Democratic nominee
for State Senator, 26th District, facing Republican Daniel Bonham, while
Republican Jeff Helfrich will face Democrat Darcy Long in the race for State
Representative, 52nd District. Anna Williams, who currently serves as the 52nd
District Representative, chose not to run for reelection.
County races that could be impacted by the continuing vote
count include Clackamas County Commissioner Position 2, where incumbent Paul
Savas held a lead over Libra Forde, 38.13 percent to 33.23 percent, and
Clackamas County Commissioner Position 5, where incumbent Sonya Fischer held a
lead over Ben West, 44.71 percent to 39.02 percent, as of Saturday, May 28.
By Garth Guibord/MT
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