What will the 2024 presidential ballot look like?
Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden
Donald Trump vs. some Democrat other than Joe Biden
Some Republican other than Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden
Some Republican other than Donald Trump vs. some Democrat other than Joe Biden
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On this day, March 28, 1942, Japanese-American lawyer Minoru Yasui (1916-1986) violated a military curfew in Portland, Oregon, and demanded to be arrested after he was refused enlistment to fight for the US. He was one of the few Japanese Americans who fought laws that directly targeted Japanese Americans or Japanese immigrants following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In 2015 he was among 17 people awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom.

Also on this day March 28, 1939, the front page of the Eugene Register-Guard blared the headline: "Mighty Oregon Scramble Ohio State to Take Hoop Title of All America," right under a declaration that the Spanish War had ended, of course.




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Hood River County GOP's Second Annual Lincoln Dinner
Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Hood River County GOP's Second Annual Lincoln Dinner 5pm-9pm
Hood River, OR



Dorchester Conference 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Dorchester Conference 2024 April 26th-28th
Welches, Oregon



Memorial Day
Monday, May 27, 2024 at 11:00 am
Memorial Day
A federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving.



Juneteenth
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at 12:00 am
Juneteenth
Celebrated on the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when in the wake of the American Civil War, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas.



Independence Day
Thursday, July 4, 2024 at 11:59 pm
Independence Day
USA



Linn Laughs LIVE with Adam Corolla
Saturday, September 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Linn Laughs LIVE with Adam Corolla 5pm-9pm
Albany, OR


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Certifying Election Results
"Secretary Fagan has created a crisis of confidence"

According to the Secretary of State’s office, counties have until December 15 to turn in their certified election results. As of this writing, six counties, Crook, Curry, Gilliam, Grant, Lake, Malheur and Wallowa, have submitted certified election results.

The Secretary of State Vote by Mail Procedures Manual includes a schedule for county clerks. The voter manual timeline gives the county 21 days to notify the elector, and the elector has the same 21 days after election day to make corrections or they will be inactive. How does making a non-responsive elector "inactive" coordinate with not cleaning voter rolls? The manual does not include requirements for opening and scanning returned envelopes where the public is allowed to monitor the process. ORS 254.478 allows county clerks to begin opening returned ballots and begin scanning seven days prior to election day. Secretary Fagan took it upon her own authority to bypass statute and extended the law to allow county clerks to begin opening 14 days prior to election day. As she did when she sent out 7,767 ballots to non-registered voters.

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan testified in favor of SB 249, which didn’t pass. She wants to allow ballots to be opened and counted when they are received rather than forcing County Clerks to wait until 7 days before the day of the election. She claims the flexibility will allow County Clerks to avoid a backlog of ballots on election day. Added time after the election day has increased nefarious activities in ballot harvesting. Added count time prior to election day will allow unscrupulous people to direct their activities. This proposal is certain to return in the 2023 legislative session.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

ORS 254.470 (6) requires a ballot to have a “postal indicator showing that the ballot was mailed not later than the date of the election.” The manual suggested the county use a fluorescent scanner, if available. The postmaster at the Airport Distribution Center said their ballots are sprayed with a date code that can be tracked every place it goes. Eugene also uses spray codes, but experienced smudging. Lacking a postal indicator on a returned ballot, the county election clerk is allowed to decide whether it is counted or not. There doesn’t seem to be uniform treatment across the state on the use of spray coding or if counties have fluorescent scanners, or how they treat late returns with no postmark or unreadable postmarks.

General opinion on social media is that Secretary Fagan has created a crisis of confidence. She admits that people received two or more ballots, and she says counties issuing duplicate ballots cross-check with other counties. However, several counties, including Lane County, admit they don’t check with other counties for duplicate votes. Marion and Lane Counties have admitted they can print ballots at will without change of custody.

Secretary Fagan also claims that the ballots involved in lawsuits are held separately, however, county clerks knew nothing about needing to separate ballots. In one county, litigation is being used as an excuse for not releasing counts that also gives opportunity to add ballots. Further, it is an option of the county clerk if a secrecy envelope is included.

Oregon is one of 31 states that allows some kind of ballot harvesting. Most states have restrictions for family members, but there are several like Oregon that have no restriction except they must be turned in within two days, and an election official may not collect ballots. In this 2022 election, Tina Kotek hired 400 ballot harvesters that targeted the Gen-Z generation. Some would say that Oregon is grooming a generation of 30 and under that are activists, but not thinkers.

There is no limit to how imaginative politics can be. For some, Oregon seems to draw on the worst ideas and has been very good at selling them to voters. We can look to other states for their inspiration. Oregon has tried to expand voters to include 16-year-olds and prisoners. Now, a new idea, the Public Interest Legal Foundation is suing Howard County, Maryland to block its law allowing a member of the school board to be elected by sixth through 11th-grade students, typically 11- or 12-year-olds. If Oregon voters don’t pay attention to election processes, the state will end up in a more oppressive government.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-12-03 06:04:07Last Update: 2022-12-04 18:39:27



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