By Laura Swanson
Some Tillamook County residents were surprised to receive their mailed ballots “returned to sender – mis-delivered back to them. There have been reports of ballots that were mailed via USPS being returned due to how they were machine sorted and the design of the envelope. The voter’s name and address appear on the reverse of the envelope with a unique bar code and also bold instructions to “DELIVER TO ADDRESS ON THE OTHER SIDE.” But in some cases, those directions were not followed.
Christy Nyseth, Tillamook County Clerk explained, “We received about 20 calls from county residents about their ballots being returned by USPS, and we advised them to just bring their ballots to the Clerk’s office.” She continued, “And for a couple people that were unable to bring them in, we went and picked them up.” The County Clerk as well as USPS doesn’t know how many ballots might have been “returned to sender.”
Nyseth wants others to know that if they had their ballots returned by USPS to please get them to the Clerk’s office before Tuesday May 28th so that they can be counted. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the County Clerk’s office at 503-842-3402 or email to clerk@tillamookcounty.gov.
The Pioneer has reached out to the Secretary of State’s office to get more information about the USPS mailing issues. The ballot return envelopes were designed with input and approval from the Postal Service. According to Ben Morris, spokesperson for the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, “A small number of ballots are returned to sender during vote by mail elections as a result of errors at USPS. This situation is uncommon, and we have no reason to believe it was more widespread this year.
If any voter has a ballot returned to them, they should take it to their county elections office before May 28. If it has a valid postmark on or before May 21, the county clerk can still count it as an on-time vote.
We encourage voters to mail back their ballots early to make sure they are accepted on time. Voters can also use an official drop site any time before 8 PM on Election Day. Drop sites are located throughout the state and can be found by going to Oregonvotes.gov.”
The same envelopes will be used for the upcoming November General Election, so the Secretary of State’s office is consulting with USPS to make sure that this problem is being addressed and won’t happen in November.
“We want our county residents and voters to know that Oregon’s mail-in ballot system is one of the best and most effective,” explained Nyseth. “We mailed out 21,279 ballots, and we want to ensure that we get back every ballot so your vote is counted.”
The convenience of postage-paid, mail-in balloting has been well-documented to increase voter participation, and Oregon has been a leader in ensuring the safety and security of our voting system. The most direct route for returning your ballot is to one of the many ballot boxes around the county that are picked up directly by the County Clerk’s office. However you choose to return your ballot, Oregon and Tillamook County elections departments provide assurance that your vote will be counted.
