Document text
Today's the last day to mail in ballots By DANI DODGE Mail Tribune If you want to mail in your mail-in ballot, do it today. The election is May 21. So if you don't drop that ballot in the mailbox today, it may not arrive at the county clerk's office in time for the election. But if you are out of stamps, don't go postal. There are drop boxes at the county elections office and all the local libraries for those who aren't ready to hand over their ballots to the mailman. And there are many, many of you. "We're only at 15 percent return right now," County Clerk Kathy Beckett said Wednesday. Numbers posted on the Secretary of State's Web site showed 16 percent of Jackson County ballots returned Wednesday evening. "And we didn't have hardly anything in the mail today. "It's terrible." It's especially bad for those who want a bigger better community college in Jackson County. Rogue Community College has a bond measure on the ballot to expand the community college so they can handle more students. But, for the bond to pass, more than 50 percent of the ballots must be returned. RCC supporters are manning phone banks nightly and calling registered voters urging them to send in their ballots. "We're trying to reach everyone at least once," said Amy Amrhein, the campaign manager for the Committee to support RCC. "Our responses have been good - people support RCC and they are telling us they are going to get their ballots in." Among the races on the May 21 primary are Democratic and Republican runoffs for governor, county commissioner and state representatives. There are also a number of measures and contests that will likely decide the ultimate winner, such as the nonpartisan race for Jackson County Circuit judge and the Republican race for state representative in District 4, which covers an area from the Medford airport to the urban growth boundary of Grants Pass. (The Republican race in District 4 is likely to decide the winner because no Democrat is running in the primary.) But the small number of ballots being returned concerns the county clerk. Less than half the number of ballots have been returned this election compared with the 2000 primary, Beckett said. "But it's not just us, it's happening all over the state," Beckett said of the low turnout. Oregon's first statewide vote-by-mail primary was in 2000. At the time, it was believed that the mail-in election would bring in a steady stream of ballots into the elections office after they were sent out to voters. But now it appears people are waiting until the last minute, which wreaks havoc on the elections department. "It backs everything up and the ballot count takes a lot longer," Beckett said. When people do get around to filling out their ballots, Beckett said, they must remember to use pencil and sign the back of the envelope. "And we just need them to get the ballots here," she said. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.