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64 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, September 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 24, 2004 Nader court ruling forces round of new ballots By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune The Jackson County Elections Center will strive to notify 971 residents temporarily living out of the area that any votes cast for Ralph Nader will be invalid. Supplemental ballots must be sent to residents who live overseas, including those in the military or on extended vacations, because of a Wednesday ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court. The court upheld the secretary of state’s decision to exclude the presidential candidate from the Nov. 2 ballot because his campaign had not collected enough valid signatures. Elections officials had sent out ballots including Nader after a lower court overruled the secretary of state’s decision earlier this month. "It’s going to be a real scramble," said Donna Connor, Jackson County elections supervisor. Nader has vowed to appeal the state Supreme Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Advertisement Given the difficulty in contacting voters overseas, elections officials might not be able to notify them in time for the election. "If you can’t get ahold of them, those ballots will be taken aside," said Connor. Only the presidential vote will not be counted if it was cast for Nader, but votes for other races and other measures will still be counted, she said. The ballots were sent to 157 people who are living overseas, 538 who are in the military and 276 who are on extended vacations. John Lindback, director of the Elections Division at the Secretary of State’s Office, said local elections offices have been told they will need to send out a supplemental ballot with a letter explaining the reasons why the earlier ballot will not be counted if someone voted for Nader. He estimated that about 10,000 ballots with Nader on them had been issued throughout the state. "If they voted for Nader, they should return the supplemental ballot," he said. However, he acknowledged it may be difficult to reach everyone, so some votes may not be counted. Tom Ryder, owner of the Bend printing company Ryder Elections Services, said he hasn’t figured out how much more it will cost to run his printing presses 24 hours a day to get all the ballots printed by Tuesday. His company prints ballots for 23 counties in the state. "It will be higher because of the delay and the reprinting," he said. Normally, it costs about 38 cents for each ballot printed, or almost $45,000 for Jackson County. Ryder, whose company has been printing ballots for 102 years, said he doesn’t like to broadcast the exact location of his business because some people have taken their election frustrations out on him. "I’ve been shot at, and I’ve had bomb threats," he said. The bullets missed him but broke out his windows when he had an office in Portland. Voter registration rises Jackson County elections officials have seen a surge in voter registration, particularly in the past few weeks. "We’ve been getting 300 or 400 new registration cards every day," said Donna Connor, elections supervisor. In January, 109,398 residents were registered to vote compared to 115,789 this week, a 6 percent increase. Of these, 48,219 are Republicans (42 percent), 39,171 are Democrats (34 percent), 24,820 are independents (21 percent) and 3,579 are registered with other parties (3 percent). Voters have until Oct. 12 to register to vote. Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 15. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities