Benton County voters got their general election ballots a couple of days early because the Salem Post Office jumped the gun.
I learned this after reporting Thursday night that for me, the election was over. How come, a kind reader asked by email. She didn’t even have her ballot yet. So how come I got mine?
Jill Van Buren, the elections supervisor for Benton County, says the county took its ballots to the Salem PO with instructions to deliver them starting Saturday. Instead, they were delivered Thursday. The county elections office had to hustle to get its ballot drop boxes ready. The flaps on the boxes are not usually opened until the day the ballots are to be delivered.
In Linn County, the county clerk’s website says the first day to mail ballots is today, Oct. 19. Elections supervisor Derrick Sterling didn’t mention whether any had been delivered to voters early.
Jill Van Buren says that by taking boxes of ballots to the Salem PO, the regional distribution center, the counties get a break on the price of mailing.
