County Clerk Offers Transparency on Voting Process

As election day approaches and voter ballots are mailed out on April 29, the Deschutes County Clerk provided community members key information they should know about the process and behind the scenes counting activity. Steve Dennison spoke about the importance of voter registration, key voter deadlines, how votes are verified and internal processes when votes are counted.

“Learn about the process,” Dennison says to voters who are skeptical about the voting process and voter fraud. “Rest assured that there are checks and balances in place and secure transport and chain of custody and we are following the law.”

If a voter wants to vote the best thing for them to do is be proactive. Voters should ensure they are affiliated with the party they want to vote for by April 28 to receive a ballot for the May 19 primary election. Additionally, making sure a voter’s signature is up-to-date and currently matches what is on a voter registration is critical as it is one of the last verification methods used to count a vote.

“Update your signature,” Dennison says. “When the ballot comes back, we need to know that it’s a valid piece. It has a unique identifier on there, a unique barcode for you this election. And then your signature, ultimately, that matches the signature that we have on file for you on your voter registration in order to be able to match it.”

Dennison says a voter signature is the last piece of validation, though he underscored how there are other validation methods further into the process.

Once a voter receives and fills out their ballot they may send it by mail or submit it to a drop box. Drop boxes in Bend can be found at the County Clerk’s office, the Deschutes Service Center, the Old Mill and Bradbury Park and Ride.

Once the vote is cast a voter cannot make any changes. Ballots are retrieved by at least two facilities workers at locked drop boxes or the post office while wearing identifiable neon vests. Facilities workers transport them using red totes secured with locks.

Once the ballots are in the County Clerk’s office they are organized according to a color-coded strip of color on the outside of the envelope. Ballots from other counties, identified through a different color strip than Deschutes’ magenta, are sorted and sent to their respective locations.

“We have probably a dozen other departments that help us do what we do in coordinated effort each election because we can’t do it with 10 people or even the three dedicated people here in our office,” Dennison says.

Ballots are run through a machine where workers input the location where they were dropped off. The location is then added to the voter’s registration record. The machine the ballots run through are scanned, photocopied and signature verified. After that, they are set aside until they are ready to be processed by election workers.

Workers are able to cross reference signatures and the quality of signatures that have come in for that specific voter in the past. They look for particularities and changes in how a signature has presented. If a signature appears off—absent of particular loops, or height in letters or quality of letters— that voter is notified.

Voters have up to 21 days after the election day, April 29, to resolve issues with signatures.

“I would recommend if you receive one of those letters please do respond to it because we do want to count that ballot,” Dennis says.

Voters can make sure their signature is up-to-date by filling out a new registration card at the County Clerk’s office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, libraries and city halls.

More than 30 election workers sit in the election room at the clerk’s office to process the ballots.

Within the room where ballots are processed is another room with a processing computer which analyzes the way a voter filled out their ballot. According to Dennison, this computer is secure and not connected to the internet.

Two staff members assess ballot images to determine voter intent when they initially filled out their votes. Credit: Jesse Coronado

Ovals filled in with a pen are analyzed to determine if a person is voting in favor of something, is communicating they are against something by crossing it out or if they are choosing to vote for none of the options. The two staff members managing this process are from different political parties.

Once the votes are tallied they are securely uploaded onto a thumb drive that has been wiped clean beforehand. The results are then sent to the secretary of state.

The unofficial results of the election are announced after 8pm on election day. Results may change and remain unofficial until after ballot return deadlines pass.

Ballots post-marked by the post office on or before election day are counted if they are received up to seven days after election day. Ballots for Deschutes that were submitted in other counties will be given eight days to arrive back at the clerk’s office. Voters resolving issues with signatures have up to 21 days after election day to resolve them.

Dennis emphasized that if voters have any questions about voting to call the County Clerk’s office or visit the voter registration website.

Ballot boxes open on Fri., May 1.