A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018
NEWS
Voting for the first time an honor for new citizen
Longtime
Hermiston resident
marks the occasion
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
For Juana Ortiz, fill-
ing out her ballot on Fri-
day morning was a special
occasion.
The longtime Hermiston
resident was voting in the
U.S. for the first time, after
becoming a citizen in 2016.
“I decided to vote because
it’s a right we have,” she
said in a mix of English and
Spanish. “Your vote makes a
difference.”
Though she knew how
she wanted to vote, Ortiz
needed some assistance
with the process. She asked
her teacher in Blue Mon-
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Juana Ortiz voted in the U.S. for the first time Friday.
tain Community College’s
English Language Acqui-
sition program to help her
navigate the paperwork.
A former Hermiston
Foods employee, Ortiz, who
has been in the United States
for 26 years, began studying
at Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College’s English Lan-
guage Acquisition program
when the facility closed
last year. The program,
which helps non-native
English speakers of all lev-
els improve their reading,
writing, listening and speak-
ing skills, offers information
and assistance for students
who want to become U.S.
citizens. That includes assis-
tance with filling out ballots
and understanding the vot-
ing process.
Sharone McCann, an
instructor at BMCC for 34
years, helped Ortiz with the
process.
“We looked through the
information, read through
the candidates and mea-
sures,” McCann said. “Juana
reads well, but even when
you read well, it’s hard to
understand.”
She said for some of the
measures, she helped Ortiz
break down what a “yes” or
“no” vote would mean.
When it came to deciding
how to vote, Ortiz made the
decisions herself.
“She didn’t vote in front
of me,” McCann said. “She
took the ballot home and
voted.”
Ortiz said the process to
become a citizen took her
about six months, but she
had been considering it for
a long time. Though she
can speak and understand
English, she took the citi-
zenship exam in Spanish, as
is permitted for those over
55 who have lived in the
U.S. for more than 15 years.
Ortiz said she knows peo-
ple who have said they don’t
want to vote, or don’t see
why it’s important, but she
hopes to convince and help
family and friends who may
need help navigating the
voting process.
“I want a place with good
laws for my grandchildren,”
she said.
Using data from the May
15, 2018 primary, Oregon’s
Secretary of State office put
together a breakdown of
voter registration and par-
ticipation by county, and by
age group in each county.
Umatilla County saw 10.8
percent of its 12,498 eligible
voters ages 18 to 34 return
ballots. Voter participa-
tion increased significantly
with each age bracket, with
59 percent of the county’s
10,092 eligible voters over
the age of 65 returning bal-
lots. In total, 31.8 percent
of eligible Umatilla County
voters returned ballots for
the May 2018 primary.
Though McCann said
Ortiz was the only person
who asked her for help this
year, there have been others
that have approached her in
the past.
Ortiz said she is not sure
what kind of job she’ll seek
once she finishes the ELA
program.
“Right now, it’s really
important to learn and speak
English for taking a job,”
she said.
Hermiston Mudfest
set Nov. 18 at EOTEC
A farm fair and
a wrestling
tournament also
on tap at venue
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
The Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center is
seeing a more diverse lineup
of events as people continue
to think up new uses for the
space.
On Nov. 18, EOTEC is
partnering with a private
group to host the Hermis-
ton Mudfest, featuring head-
to-head mud drags open to
vehicles ranging from Jeeps
to ATVs.
EOTEC general man-
ager Al Davis said when
they tested the idea of a mud
drag in the swale behind the
event center building, 40
people showed up to watch.
Now that an official event is
being publicized on social
media, the response has
been enthusiastic.
“We started out doing
something small and local,
and it’s grown to be bigger
than we thought it would,”
he said.
VenuWorks, the com-
pany contracted by the
city of Hermiston to run
EOTEC, recently wrapped
up a community survey
about what types of events
the community hopes to see
at EOTEC.
Davis said the city’s
EOTEC advisory committee
will discuss the results later
this month, and they will be
presented to the city council
in December.
He said some of the pop-
ular ideas survey respon-
dents listed were concerts,
green space for sports like
lacrosse and the return of
Hermiston’s holiday festival
of lights.
People also said they
wished EOTEC would
update its website — some-
thing
VenuWorks
was
already working on.
The updated website at
www.eotechermiston.com
is now live, featuring aerial
footage of the grounds,
updated and expanded infor-
mation about the venue,
rental rates and an upcom-
ing events calendar. Events
listed include a Prestige
Wrestling tournament on
Dec. 8 and the Hermiston
Farm Fair Nov. 28-30.
The Hermiston Mudfest
will start preliminary runs
at 10 a.m. on Nov. 18, with
gates open at 8 a.m.
Cost is $35 for a truck
and driver, $15 for a specta-
tor (bringing a lawn chair is
encouraged) and $5 for chil-
dren. Burgers will be avail-
able on-site.
Registration forms can be
picked up at 395 Quickstop,
445 N. First St. in Hermis-
ton. For more information
email Davis at adavis@eote-
chermiston.com.
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