Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2012)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM N OVEMBER 7, 2012 P ORTLAND , O REGON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 5 25 CENTS Election News C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW NW Election Results WAITING TO VOTE Historic measures pass in Washington, fail in Oregon By Lisa Loving Of The Skanner News PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS H istory was set Tuesday night in Washington State, where same sex couples will now be allowed to marry and marijuana has been legalized, to be regulated like alcohol. Also in Washington, in what national pun- dits called the most competitive race for governor in the nation, Democrat Jay Inslee narrowly bested Republican Rob McKenna in unofficial results, 51 percent to 49 per- cent. In Oregon, the incredible roller coaster of an Election Night that swept President Barack Obama back into office saw a paltry 54.98 percent voter participation in Mult- nomah County; by contrast, Oregon’s statewide voter participation rate soared to over 70 percent. Big winners in Portland included mayoral candidate Charlie Hales and City Commis- sioner Amanda Fritz, who won their races by big — in Hales’ case landslide — mar- gins. Meanwhile every proposed tax and bond measure passed in the City of Portland, including the Arts Tax, the Portland Schools bond and the Multnomah County Library district. Oregon’s hot-potato statewide measures may be the reason for the higher state turnout, with a major battleground erupting around the Cannabis Tax Act, Measure 80. While Multnomah County voters passed the pot measure by a significant margin, at the state level it went down with a no vote of 54.83 percent. More votes were cast in that one measure than in any other measure on the Oregon ballot — 1,408,700 people weighed in on it. Interestingly, the number spreads for some races showed almost no voter participation — on Wednesday morning, Greg Macpher- son stood as the unofficial winner of the campaign for mayor of Lake Oswego, with Mercedes White Calf and Shameka Hubbard waited for more than two hours in the rain Tuesday night to vote at Multnomah County Elections office in Southeast Portland. Turn to pages 4 and 5 for our Election Night photo page, and congratulations to all who stayed in line to make their ballot count. Multnomah County Elections: The Skanner News goes inside the Red Room where votes are By Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News A s Americans turn out to vote, the Department of Justice is investigating ballot tampering in Clackamas County. A temporary elections worker, Deanna Swenson, is accused of filling in unmarked spaces to select Republican can- didates. Swenson was immediately fired. According to Willamette Week, Swenson says just two ballots were involved. Ballot See ELECTION on page 3 tampering is a Class C felony that can earn offenders up to 5 years in prison and a $125,000 fine. The alleged offense appar- ently happened after the ballots had been opened but before they were counted. So what security measures are in place to protect your vote. The Skanner news visited Multnomah County Elections office accompanied by one of its chief critics, Andrew Nisbit. A self-described, “semi-retired Republican old fart,” and “a hippy and Grateful Dead fan who supported Reagan and nuclear power,” Nisbet is an analyst with the energy consult- ing firm, McCullough Research. He’s also a longtime GOP observer of Multnomah County elections. Knowing that a Republican is accused of ballot tampering turns his stomach, he says. “I’d like to believe nobody would be as stupid as that idiot in Clacka- mas County, but human nature is not perfect. And people of ill will can be Republicans as well as Democrats.” Nisbet says his main concern with the Multnomah County system is the Unity machine, the computer that tallies the accu- mulated results of the machine count, precinct by precinct. What’s Nisbet’s beef? He says the computer is vul- nerable to tampering through its USB ports, if somebody were to insert a USB drive that altered the inner software. What would happen if somebody were to substitute a USB drive with a program to alter the results for See BALLOT on page 3 INDEX New Race for Women’s Health in 2013 News ................2,3,8,9 The Better Half, set for June 30, will include a half marathon, relay Opinion .....................9 A & E ......................6,7 Bids/Classifieds ........11 Bruce Poinsette Of The Skanner News F elicia Hubber’s father started the Hood to Coast Relay 32 years ago and she was there for the first race. “I was three months old on my mom’s backpack,” she says. “I’ve been there for about 29 of the last 32 in one regard or another.” Now the Vice President of Hood to Coast/Portland to Coast Relays, Hubber is announcing a new race, the Better Half. The event, set for June 30 of next year, will focus on promoting women’s health and will include a half marathon and relay. Hubber says the inspiration for the new race came from her husband Jude, who calls women “the better half”. “We wanted to do something more for women and that was oriented towards women’s wellness and promoting women’s health,” she says. “It helps in regards to the local community and trying to get people more active and live healthier lifestyles so that they live longer. You tend to notice that people that become more active tend to eat healthier and they feel good.” See HEALTH on page 3
