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Thursday, October 31, 2024
Persistent mail ballot sorter mechanical issues cause delay in ballot processing at Clackamas County Elections
Clackamas County Clerk and Elections takes measures to continue processing ballots while mail ballot sorter is repaired.
Oregon City, OR – Beginning the week after ballots were mailed to voters in Clackamas County, the mail ballot sorter began experiencing mechanical issues. Clackamas County Elections has received onsite support from the mail ballot sorter company to address the issue, and they will be onsite for the second time the week of October 28th. The issue of concern is that the mail ballot sorter will abruptly stop moving ballots, making it difficult to process a large volume of ballots without interruption.
A mail ballot sorter is the first step of receiving ballots in Clackamas County. All ballot envelopes are processed through the ballot sorter where an image is taken of the back of the envelope and the barcode is scanned to verify that the envelope is valid and from a Clackamas County voter. The images are reviewed by staff to compare the signature on the envelope with the signature on the voters’ registration record. Once the signature has been reviewed, the ballot envelopes are processed through the mail ballot sorter a second time to be sorted. The ballot envelopes are sorted into two categories: accepted, meaning that the signature was verified by staff; or challenged, meaning that the signature could not be matched against the voter registration record. Once a signature has been accepted and processed by the mail ballot sorter, the ballot is prepared for scanning by a team of bipartisan opening boards. Voters’ whose ballots have been challenged through the signature verification process are contacted to cure their challenged signature.
This mechanical issue has also delayed voters’ ability to look up the status of their voted ballot in the Secretary of State’s My Vote website as well as with the popular Track Your Ballot service.
As of 8 p.m. October 30, Clackamas County Elections has processed 82,869 ballots. At the start of the day, Oct. 31 we had an estimated 40,000 ballots to begin processing and have received 12,000 additional ballots through the mail and our official ballot drop sites.
While the mail ballot sorter is repaired, Clerk McMullen has directed elections staff to process ballots using hand scanners. This will ensure ballots continue to be received and processed until the mail ballot sorter is working properly again.
Sworn elections staff will use a hand scanner to scan each ballot envelope into a batch. As each envelope is scanned, the election worker will review the signature on file for the voter and either accept the signature as a match or challenge the signature if it could not be matched against the voter registration record. Accepted batches of ballots will go to the next step to be prepared for scanning by a team of bipartisan opening boards. Chain of custody forms will accompany the ballots through the remainder of ballot processing, including archival retention. Voters’ whose ballots have been challenged through the signature verification process are contacted to cure their challenged signature.
Processing ballots using hand scanners is an established practice and is done today in smaller counties in Oregon. Processing ballots using hand scanners was last done in 2015 in Clackamas County.
Sworn bipartisan election workers continue to pick up ballots daily from the mail and each of the official ballot drop sites. Ballots will continue to be processed in the order received. We ask that the public have patience with the speed at which they receive the accepted message from the Track Your Ballot service.
Clerk Catherine McMullen will have media availability at 3 p.m. today via Zoom to answer questions. This media availability will continue daily at 2 p.m. until the majority of ballots have been processed and counted for the November 5, 2024 General Election. Media can contact PIO@clackamas.us to register.
For more voter information about this election, visit Ready. Set. VOTE! A Voter’s Guide to the November 5, 2024 General Election (available in English plus six languages). To learn more on voting and elections in Clackamas County, visit clackamas.us/elections.
Contacts: Catherine McMullen, County Clerk and Justin Larsen, Elections Manager | countyclerk@clackamas.us or 503-655-8510