Lane County Election Process
EUGENE, Ore. — The special district elections ballot closed at 8 p.m. on May 16. This ballot opened the vote to residents across Lane County on several measures and district officials elections.
From the moment Lane County Elections receives a ballot to the end of the election, they go through an eight-step process to be received, verified and accounted for.
Through this process the elections staff wants to be as transparent as possible with the public, said Drew Pryor, elections supervisor for Lane County.
“One of the biggest challenges to being an elections official is people not knowing what we do or how any of this happens and drawing false conclusions from that,” said Pryor.
Since the majority of ballots received are by mail, Lane County Elections sends a team wearing elections official vests and visible ID cards to the post office to retrieve them.
As long as a ballot is postmarked by election day and received within seven days, it will be counted.
From pick up of ballots through processing and verification, every step legally requires two staff members from different major political parties to be present.
Staff members wear lanyards signifying their political party to onlookers and other staff. This distinction is important to have visually, as elections workers are not allowed to discuss party affiliation or politics while working.
Much of the ballot processing, such as counting votes and verifying signatures, is done by machines.
When a ballot with errors is marked by a machine, specially trained staff inspect ballots and resolve errors through specific instruction guides or by contacting voters.
Throughout the entire process, security footage is live-streamed on YouTube, allowing anyone to observe elections staff work. Members of the public also have the opportunity to be on-site and watch in person.
“We have taken a quantum leap in transparency in the last year alone,” said Pryor.
In addition to making observations more accessible, voter registrations, ballot return data, signature challenges and more are all available on the Lane County Elections website.
Lane County Elections has been working toward recruiting those who are skeptical of the work they do, said Pryor. “Come down here and work with us, not only see it first hand, do it with your own hands.”
Special district elections generate about 30% voter turnout, said Pryor. Presidential primaries and elections usually bring about 70-80% turnout.
The results for this election are due June 30, according to the 2023 Elections Calendar. The next election will be held on August 22.
“You can register to vote by going online to the secretary of state’s website oregonvotes.gov/myvote," Pryor said, “if you capture any one quote today, that’s the one you want, that’s the one people always ask us.”