Source: http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/projects/maps2008/info.php?state=73&a=all
Timestamp: 2018-06-20 11:45:13
Document Index: 189242019

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 246', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§254', '§ 258', '§ 1']

Election Law @ Moritz (2008 Key Questions for Key States: Oregon)
The complete research by Election Law @ Moritz for Oregon can be found below.
Chief election authority: Secretary of State. § 246.110.
Method of selection: Election. Const. Art. VI, § 1.
Current officer: Bill Bradbury (D). Brad Avakian to run for secretary of state, The Oregonian (Portland), August 1, 2007. (Last updated 1/1/08)
Unknown affiliation/elected
Method of selection: Election. Const. Art. VII, § 1.
Justices: Rives Kistler (appointed by D), Martha Lee Walters (appointed by D), Virginia L. Linder (no info), W. Michael Gillette (appointed by R), Paul J. De Muniz (no info), Robert D. Durham (appointed by D), Thomas A. Balmer (appointed by D) (Last updated 12/22/07)
American Judicature Society, Judicial Selection in the States: Oregon
The Monday Profile Oregon Supreme Court’s Newest Justice, The Oregonian (Portland), September 15, 2003.
Editorial: Election 2006, Endorsements, Virginia Linder belongs on state’s Supreme Court, The Oregonian (Portland), September 24, 2006.
Oregon’s Next Supreme Court, The Oregonian (Portland), April 18, 2004.
Court rejects initiative challenge, The Oregonian (Portland), September 6, 2003.
Annual training/mandatory
Each year, the Secretary of State must organize and give notice of three conferences on the administration of the election laws. ORS 246.140. Each county clerk or designated deputy shall attend at least one of the conferences.
The secretary also must prepare and distribute written directives on registration of electors and election procedures to each county clerk. ORS 246.120. The secretary of state must assist, advise, and instruct each county clerk on the provisions in the written directives.
Local election authority - partisanship unconstrained
The county clerk tallies precinct results. ORS 254.545.
Local election officials (typically county clerks) determine whether to count provisional ballots. ORS 254.408. These officials may be elected or appointed.
The Secretary of State conducts the state canvass. ORS 254.555. The Secretary of State is elected. Const. Art. VI, 1.
County official - elected or appointed
At the local level, Oregon elections are run by elected county clerks. ORS 204.005, 246.200. However, Multnomah County (Oregon's most populous) and other counties have chosen to modify local law to require elections be managed by professional appointed directors.
Note: All Oregon counties conduct almost all of their voting exclusively by mail.
Administrator/Affiliation
Multnomah 681,454 Tim Scott (?) Appointed N/A
Washington 514,269 Mickie Kawai (?) Appointed N/A
Clackamas 374,230 Sherry Hall (R) [1] Elected N/A
Lane 337,870 Annette Newingham (?) Appointed N/A
Marion 311,304 Bill Burgess (D) [2] Elected N/A
Jackson 197,071 Chris Walker (?) Elected N/A
Deschutes 149,140 Nancy Blankenship (?) Elected N/A
Linn 111,489 Steven Druckenmiller (?) Elected N/A
Douglas 105,117 Barbara Nielson (?) Elected N/A
Yamhill 94,678 Jan Coleman (?) Elected N/A
Total 2,876,622 (77.7% of population)
[1] County clerk will face pair of challengers, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), April 13, 2006.
[2] Department of Justice open investigation against Victoria Doyle, AP Alert, May 26, 2005.
The registration deadline is the 21st day preceding the election. ORS 247.025. Mailed registrations will be effective for the upcoming election if postmarked prior to the deadline. ORS 247.012.
The county clerk shall attempt to contact the applicant if the necessary information is not present. ORS 247.012.
When the applicant fails to supply date of birth, that failure may be corrected after the registration deadline and still be effective for the upcoming election. ORS 247.012. The code does not contain such provisions for any other type of error or omission, suggesting that other types of post-deadline corrections will be effective only for the next election cycle.
Exact match standard
Oregon uses an exact match standard, regardless of whether the voter submitted their driver's license number or social security number on their registration form.
Source: Phone conversation, Multnomah County (Portland) Elections Division, July 16, 2008.
Unmatched voters may cast an ordinary ballot, but votes cast for federal candidates will not count
If administrators fail to obtain a match using the information provided by the voter, the local administrator will attempt to contact the voter twice, to obtain corrected information. If that fails, the Secretary of State will also attempt to contact the voter twice. If that, too, fails, the voter will still be registered and permitted to cast an ordinary ballot. However, votes cast by the voter for federal candidates will not be counted.
Challenges decided by local election official
The county clerk, an elections official, or any voter shall challenge the ballot of any person offering to vote whom the clerk, official or voter knows or suspects not to be a qualified voter. ORS 254.415. A person's ballot may be challenged at any time before the ballot is removed from its return envelope for processing. The county clerk shall examine the challenge and determine if the person is validly registered to vote and if the vote was properly cast. ORS 254.426. The ballot shall be counted only if the county clerk determines the person is validly registered. This language implies that the county clerk's decision is final and nothing could be found that provided for an appeal of this decision.
Oregon conducts election entirely by mail and does not have election day challenges.
Ballot will count if voter was registered and eligible
Provisional ballots are counted if the county clerk determines that the voter is validly registered to vote and the vote was properly cast. ORS 254.408(5). Provisional ballot votes are counted only for the races in which the voter is eligible to vote. ORS 254.408(6).
Ballot may be at least partially counted
Provisional ballots will be counted even if cast in the wrong precinct or county but only for the races in which the voter is eligible to vote. ORS 254.408(6).
This August 2004 NASS study says that county election officials may issue ballots to voters who reside in other Oregon counties. Counties just send ballots and registration cards to the appropriate county when necessary.
0-.25 percent of ballots cast at polls
"No excuse" absentee voting only
Oregon does not have early voting.
Any person may cast an absentee ballot. ORS 253.015. Ballot applications must be received by 8 p.m. on the day of the election. ORS 253.030. Completed ballots must be received at that time as well. ORS 254-470.
All Oregon counties conduct almost all of their voting exclusively by mail.
Oregon does not require VVPAT because all elections are conducted by mail.
Oregon conducts its elections by mail and, therefore, has no need of poll workers.
The county clerk may employ personnel for counting ballots or any other duties necessary to administer election laws. ORS 254.476, 246.250. Personnel for counting ballots cannot be all members of the same political parties.
Oregon conducts its elections entirely by mail and, therefore, does not use poll workers.
Governor may extend
Because Oregon uses an all-vote-by-mail system, its elections emergency provisions are different than what one might expect to see in other states. The law allows the governor to extend the deadline for return of AVBM ballots by 7 days at the request of the secretary of state. ORS 254.471. The secretary may make such request when it is "impossible or impracticable for electors to return ballots or for elections officials to tally ballots due to an emergency". Emergency is defined as "a human created or natural event or circumstance that causes or threatens widespread: (a) Loss of life; (b) Injury to person or property; (c) Human suffering; or (d) Financial loss." ORS 401.025(4).
11:00 PM Eastern time
No ID of any kind required
Oregon voters cast all of their ballots by mail and no ID is required of any voter. Oregon does not even require the minimum ID required by HAVA of voters who are voting in a county federal election for the first time, who registered to vote by mail, who did not produce ID at the point of registration, and whose identities were not verified in the statewide voter registration database by comparing the information on the voter registration form against information contained in social security or state motor vehicles databases. Oregon officials believe that they are exempt from this requirement because of their all-vote-by-mail system.
Oregon voters cast all of their ballots by mail and no ID is required of any voter. Oregon does not even require ID of unverified first-time mail-in registrants.
Election-specific emergency provision
Oregon conducts elections by mail.
Oregon conducts elections entirely by mail.
About 30 days after election
The secretary of state must conduct a canvass of the votes and certifiy the results no later than the 30th day after an election. ORS 254.555.
Oregon requires that a petition of contest must be filed no later than 40 days after the election or 7 days after completion of a recount. ORS 258.036. Presidential contests are specifically authorized.
Between 15 and 21 days after the election
The county clerk prepares the abstracts of votes as soon as possible after an election. ORS 254.545. The county clerk must deliver a copy of the abstract to the appropriate election official no later than 20 days after the election.
The Secretary of State randomly selects precincts depending on margin of victory. ORS 254.529. If the margin of victory is less than 1%, at least 10% of all precincts will be hand counted. If the margin of victory is between 1% and 2%, at least 5% of precincts will be hand counted. If the margin of victory is greater than 2%, at least 3% of all precincts will be hand counted. Discrepancies of more 0.5% or more will trigger a second manual count. If the discrepancy is still greater than 0.5%, officials will conduct a full hand recount. The results of the full hand recount will become the official results.
at least 3% of precincts
The Secretary of State randomly selects precincts depending on margin of victory. ORS 254.529. If the margin of victory is less than 1%, at least 10% of all precincts will be hand counted. If the margin of victory is between 1% and 2%, at least 5% of precincts will be hand counted. If the margin of victory is greater than 2%, at least 3% of all precincts will be hand counted. Discrepancies of more 0.5% or more will trigger a second manual count. If the discrepancy is still greater than 0.5%, officials will conduct a full hand recount. The results of the full hand recount will become the officials results.
Any candidate may obtain a recount by requesting one within 35 days of the election (5 business days after declaration of the result in the case of a Presidential recount). ORS 251.161. The request may be for a full recount or a recount occurring only in specified precincts, except in the case of a Presidential recount, which must be a full recount.
State officials may order
A county clerk may obtain a recount by filing a request with the Secretary within 35 days of the election (5 days after certification in the case of Presidential elections). ORS 258.161.
Triggered at 0.2% or less
Automatic recounts will occur when the margin of victory is 0.2% or less. ORS 258.280.
Intent standard
Oregon law stipulates that votes will go uncounted only when it is impossible to determine the elector’s choice. ORS 254.505 This general definition allows for discrepancy between the judges but also allows for a greater number of irregularly marked ballots to be counted.
With limited exceptions, Oregon conducts all voting by mail. Thus, traditional concerns about unverified ballots do not apply.
Provisional voters must complete and sign a registration card before voting. §254.408. The ballot will count if officials determine that the voter was eligible and registered, regardless of whether the registration was active or inactive. Id. No information was found regarding whether and under what circumstances voter error would prevent a provisional ballot from counting.
Contest of presidential or vice presidential election is filed in the Circuit Court for Marion County. Or. Rev. Stat. § 258.036. Oregon judges are elected. Ore. Const. Art. VII, § 1.
Recounts are conducted by special counting boards appointed by the local election authority. ORS 258.200. The members of the counting boards shall not all be members of the same political party. Id. The local election authority will generally be an elected county clerk. OR Const. Art. VI, s 6. However, according to Summer Davis, a compliance specialist with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, a few of Oregon’s counties by charter have another type of official running local elections. The type of official varies depending on the locale. Candidates, their agents and agents of political parties may observe the recount. ORS 258.211.
Pre-election litigation risk assessment for Oregon