On this day, August 22, 2002, President George W. Bush proposed to end the government's "hands-off" policy in national forests and ease logging restrictions in fire-prone areas.
Also on this day, August 22, 2014, the State of Oregon filed a $200 million suit against Oracle Corp. and several executives over the company's role in creating the troubled website for the state's online health insurance exchange.
Also on this day, August 22, 2020, demonstrators faced off in Portland with the two sides -- one aligned with a "Back the Blue" rally and the other a Black Lives Matter counter-demonstration -- reportedly largely ignoring police warnings. Ultimately, Department of Homeland Security officers deemed the gatherings unlawful and moved through the plaza, forcing the crowd to disperse.
Most voters vote at a ballot collection box, not by mail
Pundits have been busy alternately hounding and reporting the results of said hounding of the United States Postal Service. Oregon has had vote by mail for a couple of decades now and we're pretty much used to the timelines and deadlines, so we know that it's not going to put any undue stress on the postal service and won't impact elections in Oregon -- at least any more than any other election.
In 2019, the Oregon Legislature did
pass a law that provides for free postage on election ballot returns, so that is one thing that may impact elections and returns. Oregonians can still return their ballots via mail or by dropping them off at a ballot collection site.
Oregon Secretary of State Director of Elections Steve Trout was asked about how ballots are returned and said, "For the past few election cycles it has been 60% Dropbox and 40% through the mail. For this year's May primary it changed to 50/50. We are not sure if that was due to COVID or prepaid postage but probably a little of both."
State Representative E. Werner Reschke (R-Klamath County) said, “One of the good things about Oregon’s Vote By Mail is you don’t have use the postal service. Voters can personally drop off their ballots at an official Drop Box up until 8pm on Election Night. If the USPS shut down tomorrow, Oregon’s voting system wouldn’t miss a beat.â€
--Staff Reports| Post Date: 2020-08-21 14:25:16 | Last Update: 2020-08-21 21:03:15 |
