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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2020)
OFF PAGE ONE Thursday, October 22, 2020 East Oregonian A7 First days of voting in Oregon produce large numbers By SARA CLINE Associated Press/ Report for America Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian A school bus sits in the parking lot of the Hermiston Christian School on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Lawsuit: Possible First Amendment violation Continued from Page A1 the introduction. The lawyers wrote that the state’s actions violated the school’s First Amend- ment right to freedom of religion and 14th Amend- ment right to due process. In the complaint, the alliance draws compar- isons between Hermis- ton Christian School and Ukiah School, a public school with similar enroll- ment in the same county, albeit 80 miles away. While Ukiah was included in a list of small and remote schools that were allowed to reopen for in-person instruction, no private schools in the county, all of them religious, were afforded the same opportunity. The fi ling also lays out a timeline of chang- ing reopening standards, the lawsuit alleging that the state had advised private schools they could reopen in the fall before changing course on July 29. The school’s lawyers argue that the governor’s administration was moti- vated by a fear that allowing private schools to remain open, while most public schools stayed close, would lead to major disenrollment from the public school. One Brown staffer allegedly said it would cause a “mass exo- dus” in a conference call with administrators. The alliance is asking the court to not only issue a temporary restraining order that would allow Hermiston Christian School to reopen, but also grant the school damages for the social dis- tancing measures it installed in its facilities and for the potential enrollees who decided to go elsewhere because of the closure. The attorneys argued that in-person instruction was not only essential to the school keeping its lights on, but also its affi liate church’s ability to practice its faith. “In-person education is essential for (the school’s) free exercise of religion,” the complaint states. “(The school’s) mission is to teach its students what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, not only through classroom education, but also through prayer, worship, and reli- gious formation that occurs in-person.” The alliance not only sued Brown, but also the leaders of several state agencies, including Oregon State Police, Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education. All, including the governor’s offi ce, declined to comment or didn’t return a request for comment. The legal team also sued the heads of Umatilla County Public Health and the Umatilla County Sher- iff’s Offi ce. Public Health Director Joe Fiumara declined to comment, while Sheriff Terry Rowan said he was “shocked’’ because his deputies were never involved in this issue, but declined to comment further. Ryan Tucker, a senior counsel for the alliance, said they needed to include law enforcement agencies in the lawsuit because of their capacity to enforce the gov- ernor’s orders even if they hadn’t enforced them yet. While the alliance equated Ukiah School and Hermiston Christian School, the pandemic has affected each community disparately. Umatilla County Public Health has reported between 0-4 COVID-19 cases in the Ukiah area, while the Herm- iston ZIP code has more than 1,600, according to OHA. Despite these differ- ences, Tucker said the state has already well established its case that the state was making its decision based on religious qualifi cations. SALEM — Ballots for the 2020 election began to be mailed to Oregonians last Wednesday, Oct. 14, and so far more than 88,000 people have casted their vote, fol- lowing suit with the nation- wide early voting trends. By comparison, at this time during the 2016 presi- dential election, 12,591 bal- lots were returned in Ore- gon. In 2012, it was less than 10,000. The Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State released the unoffi cial ballot returns count Mon- day, Oct. 19. So far the divi- sion has recorded 88,406 ballots returned. Nearly 3 million people are registered to vote in Ore- gon, a 15% increase from the 2016 election. A por- tion of the infl ux of regis- tered voters in the state can be attributed to Oregon’s Motor Voter Act in 2016, which made voter registra- tion automatic when Orego- nians obtain or renew their driver’s licenses. So far, 3% of regis- tered voters in Oregon have returned their ballots, according to the elections division. During the last two presidential elections, between 80% and 82% of registered voters in Oregon have returned their ballots. To no surprise, the county with the most bal- lots returned thus far is Multnomah County — Ore- gon’s most populous county. Nearly 60,000 ballots have been returned, which make up 10.5% of the county’s registered voters. At this time in 2016, the county had received 21,452 ballots. The avalanche of returned the ballots within the fi rst days of voting has been witnessed across the country. As of Friday, more than 22 million Americans had already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shat- tering number of early votes. Americans’ rush to vote is leading election experts to predict that a record 150 million votes may be cast and turnout rates could be higher than in any presiden- tial election since 1908. In Oregon, ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. Elec- tion Day, Nov. 3. Orego- nians should expect to receive their ballots two to three weeks before the elections. According to the Uma- tilla County Election’s Offi ce, all local registered voters should have received their ballot in the mail by Tuesday, Oct. 20. Voters who haven’t received their ballots by then should con- tact the election offi ce at 541-278-6254. There are a number of local ballot drop-off loca- tions throughout the county. In addition to a bal- lot drop box at the Uma- tilla County Courthouse in Pendleton, drop boxes can be found outside of city halls in Athena, Echo, Hermis- ton, Pilot Rock, Stanfi eld and Umatilla. There are also drop boxes outside of the Milton-Freewater Police Department and the Nixy- aawii Governance Center in Mission. Ballots are picked up daily from these outdoor drop-off locations and they are available 24/7 until 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, accord- ing to the Umatilla County Election’s Offi ce.