NEWS
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
Offi cials dispute claims of changed voter registrations
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
County and state elec-
tions offi cials are disput-
ing claims that Oregon vot-
ers’ party affi liations were
changed
without
their
consent.
Secretary of State Bev
Clarno, a Republican, over-
sees the state’s elections.
Her offi ce has been pushing
back on conspiracy theories
circulating on social media
that Republicans’ registra-
tions were changed to non-
partisan before this year’s
primary election to keep
them from voting in the
Republican primary.
“Claims that our offi ce
changed the party of voters
to nonpartisan without con-
sent are misinformation and
fl at out false,” she said in a
statement. “We work to pro-
tect the integrity and fair-
ness of every election.”
Kim
Lindell,
elec-
tions manager for Umatilla
County, said usually after
an election her offi ce gets a
few calls from people who
believed their party had been
changed, but she has seen an
increase this time around.
“We got a lot more angry
calls than in the past,” she
said.
The county’s elections
system keeps a record of
voters’ party affi liation over
time, and allows elections
offi cials to look at what bal-
lot those voters were sent
in each election since 2005.
Lindell said when people
have called with a com-
plaint, so far she hasn’t
found any record that those
voters’ affi liations were
changed recently.
During primary elections,
held once every two years,
Oregonians receive different
ballots, depending on their
party affi liation. Registered
Republicans receive a bal-
lot that includes choices for
which Republican will face
off against the other parties’
nominees during the general
election in November. Mem-
bers of other parties partici-
pate similarly in their own
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Emily Bennett removes ballots from their envelopes at the Umatilla County Elections offi ce on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.
party’s primary. And nonaf-
fi liated voters receive a bal-
lot with only nonpartisan
races, such as county com-
missioner or city councilor.
Lindell said if people
haven’t voted during previ-
ous primaries, when fewer
voters generally turn in a
ballot, they wouldn’t have
noticed they were receiving
a nonpartisan ballot.
“My thought is that peo-
ple are remembering how
they voted in November, for
a particular candidate, and in
November everyone gets the
same ballot,” she said.
Morrow County elections
manager Bobbi Childers said
she is seeing a similar phe-
nomenon of people claim-
ing that their party affi liation
was changed recently, even
though records show they
received nonpartisan ballots
in past primaries.
“People say, ‘I voted for
Trump in the last election,’
and we have the ballots, and
we can say, ‘Yes you voted
for Trump, but that was in
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Dan Lonai, the Umatilla County director of administrative
services, watches as ballots run through a counting machine
at the Umatilla County Elections offi ce in Pendleton on Friday,
May 15, 2020.
November,’” she said.
Oregon uses informa-
tion from the Department
of Motor Vehicles to auto-
matically register U.S. citi-
zens to vote, and those who
are automatically registered
receive a postcard in the mail
notifying them that they will
need to change their politi-
cal party status if they want
to join a party. Childers said
many of the complaints she
has seen have been from
people who were automat-
ically registered and this is
the fi rst time they have tried
to vote since.
Some voters remain ada-
mant that their party reg-
istration was changed by
someone other than them.
When Clarno posted an arti-
cle by fact-checking website
Lead Stories to the Oregon
Secretary of State Facebook
page, the post was inundated
with comments from people
stating they had personally
experienced their registra-
tion being changed.
Regardless of their cur-
rent party status, Oregon
voters can change their
party registration at any
time, other than the period
starting 21 days before an
election and ending after
the election’s results are
certifi ed.
This rule has caused
some additional confusion
right now, both Lindell and
Childers said, as the May
19 election’s results have
yet to be certifi ed. If a voter
attempts to change their reg-
istration now, that change
will only take effect after
the election’s results are cer-
tifi ed in early June, lead-
ing some people to mistak-
enly believe that the state is
switching their registration
back to nonaffi liated.
“One gal said she has
changed it six times, and she
did, but those are sitting in
the queue,” Childers said.
Once results are cer-
tifi ed, those changes that
have been requested during
the election period will go
through. Lindell said the
reason they are held is to
make sure the fi nal elections
results show accurate statis-
tics for fi gures, such as voter
turnout by party.
“It’s Oregon law. It
always has been,” she said.
Elections are not cer-
tifi ed until 15 days after
election day. The elections
offi ce “challenges” ballots
where the person’s signa-
ture is missing or the sig-
nature does not match the
one the elections offi ce has
on fi le for that voter, and
voters have 14 days to pro-
vide “suffi cient evidence”
that they were the ones who
fi lled out the ballot. Other
votes come in to the offi ce
after election day because
they were turned in at a bal-
lot box outside the county.
On Thursday, May 28, Lin-
dell said Umatilla County
still had 275 ballots yet to be
counted.
Another complaint Lin-
dell said some people have
is that they did not receive a
ballot at all. To remedy that
problem, she said, people
should contact their elec-
tions offi ce as soon as they
realize other people have
received one and they have
not. If the election is far
enough out, the elections
offi ce can send them a new
ballot in the mail after ver-
ifying their address. If there
isn’t enough time, voters can
pick up their ballot in person
at the county courthouse.
“Always call us,” she
said. “That’s what we’re
here for, to get a ballot in
your hand and make sure it
gets returned.”
For more information
about voting, or to make
changes to your registration,
visit oregonvotes.gov.
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