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Ballot fixes come today By Dani Dodge Jackson County residents who received ballots missing the Jackson County juvenile bond measure began receiving supplemental ballots in the mail Thursday. The cost of the botched ballots � the result of an oversight in the county clerk�s office � is expected to cost less than $5,000, said Jackson County Clerk Kathy Beckett. Voting tips Here are some tips for voting in mail-in elections: Use a pencil. Ballot-counting machines pick up the graphite from the pencil. They don�t read marks made by ink pen. If you�ve marked your ballot in pen, go back over the darkened spaces with a pencil. By sure to sign the envelope before you drop off or mail your ballot. If you mail a supplemental juvenile measure ballot with your original ballot, realize you will need to add a 22-cent stamp to the envelope. One 33-cent stamp won�t cover the additional weight of the supplement. If you want to avoid the cost of stamps, drop off your ballot at one of two 24-hour drop sites at the Jackson County Courthouse, 10 S. Oakdale, Medford. One drop site is at the curb on Eighth Street; the other is behind the courthouse at the property tax payment window. In the last few days of the election, additional drop sites will open up around the county. Those sites are listed on page 15-35 of the second volume of the Voters� Pamphlet. For more information, call the clerk�s office at 774-6148. Because of a ballot-formatting error that wasn�t caught by proofreaders, about 21,000 Jackson County voters received ballots omitting the countywide juvenile justice bond measure. Those voters all live outside districts where other local measures are on the ballot. The $16.5 million juvenile bond would pay to move and renovate the aging, overcrowded juvenile center. Both the regular ballots that people received late last week � and the supplemental ballots with the bond measure that about one-fifth of voters are receiving this week � must be returned to the county by 8 p.m. Nov. 7. Voters can return their supplemental ballots separately, or include them with their primary ballot. People who mail their supplemental ballots with their regular ballots, however, need to be aware that the addition will push the envelope�s weight over 1 ounce. Voters will have to put an extra 22-cent stamp on the envelope. Ballots also can be dropped off without postage at one of two 24-hour drop boxes at the county courthouse 10 S. Oakdale Ave. in Medford. One local campaign expert said the county�s goof-up may help passage of the tax measure. Or it may hurt. "In general it doesn�t bode well for the county bond measure because people who vote �no� are more motivated than those who want to vote �yes�," said Cathy Shaw, Ashland mayor and author of a book on campaigning. "The �no� voters tend to find the energy to get the ballot and send it in and the �yes� voters aren�t as motivated to raise their taxes." On the other hand, she said, supplemental ballots are going to mostly unincorporated areas scattered throughout the county. Most of the time, those are areas that resist tax increases. And the extra step of keeping track of a second piece of mail is likely to mean some of the supplemental ballots are not returned, Shaw said. "If the ballots are in areas that are largely �no� votes anyway, it could work for (the supporters) because people don�t return them," Shaw said. "So in the end, that could help them." Beckett said all but one of the dozens of calls her office has received about the problem have been positive and understanding. Still, she said the mistake made her physically sick. "I�m not sure how we missed it," she said. "There were six pairs of eyes looking at this thing. ... But we�re human beings." Beckett said no employee was specifically punished for the mistake, but everyone in the county clerk�s office is suffering. "The punishment comes with all the extra work we have to do," she said. "It�s been hard on the staff. Hard on me." Beckett�s estimate of about $5,000 includes extra mailing costs and personnel costs associated with counting the supplemental ballots by hand. The printer who printed the original ballots agreed to print the supplements for free, because he also failed to catch the mistake, Beckett said. She said she wouldn�t know the total cost of the mistake until after the election. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.