Confusion, conspiracy, misinformation, mistrust, manipulation … name your noun.

In a state and country where elections are by any objective measure producing the most accurate results anywhere in the world, the doubters and disrupters are basking in their own mischief. It is, unfortunately, part of a Twilight Zone episode in which we are all part of the cast.

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, and Dag Robinson, president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks (OACC), held a virtual town hall to talk election integrity and process. The fact that they felt compelled to even have a town hall on the subject says a lot about the times we live in.

Robinson, who also serves as the elections clerk in Harney County, emphasized that anyone with any concerns about the voting process from soup to nuts should stop by their elections office and see how the process works.

“People can come in and actually see the safeguards we have built in,” Robinson said.

It is important to drown out the noise and cast your vote, and not be discouraged by those seeking to intimidate or dissuade.

 

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

— Abraham Lincoln

 

What was most interesting were the comments made by Read and Sen. Merkley when the topic of casting their ballots was discussed. Oregon law allows all ballots to be counted that are postmarked by 8 p.m. on election day. But without specifically saying so, Read strongly urged voters to go another direction.

“If you are going to mail your ballot, do it NOW (like, yesterday),” Read emphasized, even though that is a week before Oregon law requires. He went further and said your safest bet is to take your ballot and put it into an official election drop box, avoiding the post office altogether.

Allowing ballots to be counted that were cast before the deadline but not received until later is the subject of a heated court battle. Read’s comments suggest he is not confident the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold Oregon’s statute.

Merkley observed that there are “changes being made by the Postal Service,” and also cautioned against that delivery mechanism. The unofficial motto of the USPS, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” apparently may not apply to your election ballot.

Read also took great pains to emphasize that despite social media sirens claiming Oregon is allowing over 800,000 ineligible voters to vote, the claim is bogus.

He noted the figure of 800,000 comes from a list of “inactive voters” who have not voted in recent elections. In those cases — and there are a lot of them — they are moved to the inactive list and do not receive ballots.

Read acknowledged the state needs to purge those names to keep the voter rolls current and accurate. The state Elections Division is doing that now, in response to a lawsuit. But none have cast a ballot because they don’t receive one.

Then there are the misunderstandings that election officials have confronted for years. The most common one, according to Robinson, is where people come in and claim the Elections Division “changed my party.”

“People come in and say, ‘Why didn’t I get a ballot for Governor?’” Robinson said. “’Because you aren’t registered with that party,’ we would explain.”

They would insist they are a Republican or Democrat, but the fact is they are registered as either unaffiliated or with the other party. Still, they insist the Elections Office conspired to switch their parties.

Being an elections worker is a thankless job and getting more challenging all the time. It is especially true in this time and place that has led to this milepost in our history. Without their dedication and perseverance, the next stop could be The Twilight Zone.