3—The Mill City Enterprise, Thursday, April 20, 1972
Salem Scene
by Jack 2imm«rm»n
election OFFICIALS
GLIM ABOUT
VOTER REGISTRATION
Saturday, voter registration
de.'idiine is still a few days
away and most Oregon elec
tion officials already are ex
pressing disappointment in
prospects for a big turnout at
the polls May 23.
No one expects the May Pri
mary to be a -'ho-hum” thing
But despite factors such as a
record number of candidates,
the elusive youth vote and the
fact it’s a presidential year
few expect a significant surge
of people casting ballots.
Asst Sec. of State Jack
Thompson points out voter
participation in Oregon and
across the nation—is gradually
declining from a percentage
standpoint. He doesn’t see ar.y.
thing in the immediate future
that would reverse tl » trend.
“Fewer people are partici
pating in government," he said
And indicated voter apathy
may be increasing faster than
anything else.
Thompson ana his boss, Sec.
of State Clay Myers, are wil
ling to bet voter registration
v ill be high for the May Pri
mary -and possibly even set a
new Oregon record But they
see few indications tnat cur
rent reaaons for increased vot
er participation are bearing
real fruit.
Of particular disappointment
to those closest to the issue Is
the absence of a discernible
outpouring of registrations by
newly enfranchised young peo
ple And trends in this state
seem to be holding up nation
wide.
Not all Oregon election ad
ministrators share Thompson’s
pessimism, however. In the
state's population center, Mult
nomah County Director of
Elections John Weldon is
greatly impressed by prelimin
ary registration figures — es
pecially among 18-to20 year-
olds.
“Of course," he said. “I’m
noted for being overly opti
mistic.” And election people
usually are because they’re so
close to the fact the ballot box
is the key to the poitical sys
tem's success.
Weldon figures more than
half of the now-enfranchised
young are registering. Prelim
inary figures show total Mult
nomah
County registration
may surpass 320,000 — an ap
preciable gain over the record
299,106 registered prior to the
1970 off-year Primary. And, as
Weldon pointed out, intensive
voter registration campaigns
in the metropolitan area really
just got started over the week
end.
Thompson—without required
preliminary reports from elec
tion officials in the state’s 36
counties—likely is basing his
more conservative beliefs on
two factors. While Oregon re.
cords showed an all-time high
of 1,018,017 regis’ered voters
for the 1970 Primary, the total
dipped to 955,459 during the
General Election that year.
This decrease is due to the
fact voter rolls are purged
following Primaries and weed
ing out the so-called “dead
wood” is an indication Primary
figures always are somewhat
out of proportion with reality.
Thompson's other indicator
may tie total registration fig
ures involving the special cig-
aret tax election conducted on
January 18 this year. At that
time statewide registration
sood at 1,030,367, hardly more
than 12.000 greater than the
1970 Primary total.
“Sure, there’ll be an increase
in registrations (for the Prim
ary),” Thompson averred. But
he maintained it will occur
principally from the fact there
are more people—and the fig
ures likely won’t signal a sig
nificant increase in voter par
ticipation.
Studying Oregon voter ac
tivity is fascinating and of in
tense interest to those close
to the political scene. In the
past two decades the state has
switched from narrowly "Re
publican” to a positive Demo
crat registration
majority.
GOP voters always turn out in
greater numbers at the polls
on a percentage basis. And
Demos have a tendency to vote
Republican in large numbers
when General Election chips
are down.
The latter fact is obvious
when one considers a prepond
erance of the state’s holders of
major office are members of
the minority party.
When it comes to reading
the effectiveness of Oregon’s
Primary Election, it’s just as
absorbing to note the relative
infallibility of voters to bal
lot their party's national pre
sidential choice. And only
twice since 1932 has this state’s
electorate erred in masting ma-
jority ballots during General
Elections •
the actual presi
dential winner.
If current registratii n fig
ures have real significance—
and if early youth registra
tion tallies are lumped into the
same category — one surely
must surmise the Democratic
majority in Oregon is enjoy
ing a steady increase.
Tn
Multnomah
County,
where a third of the state’s
voters reside for instance, the
dimaritv between mainr party
registrations
definitely
is
growing Democrat registra
tions held a 60.000-voter edge
over Republicans at the 1970
Primary. That margin dipped
to 56.000 during the General
Election that year but bounced
back to a 64,000-voter major
ity during January’s special
election. And late last week
Weldon reported 72,000 more
Democrats than Republicans
registered in his county.
At the same time he had
tallied the 18-29 year-old regis
tration. With 16,554 new young
voters registered, the early
trend is to sign up as Independ
ents had withered and Demo
crats held a big lead l0.966 to
3,868 GOPs.
By coalition or sheer weight
of numbers. Republicans tra-
ditionaly have ruled the Ore
gon Statehouse Democrats this
year, as seldom before, are pre
dicting a change If Weldon’s
preliminary count holds up and
if it's indicative of what’s hap
pening throughout the state,
their prediction just might
come true.
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JACK WILLIAM FLOOR
Funeral services were held
Tuesday, April 18, in Fairfield,
California, for Jack William
Flook. age 54. of 1041 Marilyn
Street, Fairfield- Mr. Flook
died Friday, April 14, of a
heart ailment. He was a native
of Oregon and a retired Air
Force Senior Master Sargeant.
Surviving are his widow
Dorothy of Fairfield, one son,
George, and one daughter,
Mrs. Pamela Shin. His mother,
Mrs Sara Flook and one broth-
ther, George, both of Mill City,
one sister, Mrs. Gwendolyn
Johnson of Eugene and one
grandchild.
Interment was in Rockville
Cemetery at Fairfield with
Bryan-Braker Funeral Home
in charge of arrangements.
MEHAMA
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Mrx. John Tertem
Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Norton
returned home Wednesday,
April 12, from a trip to Reno
and Sparks They visited with
her nephew, Tom Bolter at
Reno, ana with her brother-in-
law and sister, Mr. and Mrs
Merle Tompkins, and mother,
Mrs. Gussie May, at Sparks.
Sp/4 Roiland Longfellow ar
rived April 12 for a leave at
the home of his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Harold Longfellow.
He has just finished a tour of
duty in Vietnam and will be
reporting to Ft. Lewis, when
his leave is over.
Mr. and Mrs Charles Dun
bar of Senior Estates were
recent guests at the home of
Mrs. Jack Ryland. Mrs. Ry
land spent the past weekend
at the Dunbar home.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Monroe
returned home Friday after
spending several days at Reno.
It snowed most of the time
they were there but they had
good weather on the way
home.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Teet
ers we’u to Seattle Friday ev
ening and were guests during
the weekend of their sons, Mr.
and Mrs. Harold Teeters and
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Teeters.
They drove to Port Angelos on
Saturday.
If the number following
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