At about 8 p.m. Monday, drivers line up to reach the ballot drop box on the Fifth Avenue side of the Linn County Courthouse.
There’s a drive-up ballot box on the back side of the Linn County Courthouse in Albany. For a little while there on Monday night, it was a busy place.
What these people were doing, besides dropping off their ballots on Election Day Eve, was to remind me of Oregon’s Motor Voter system. They were actual motor voters, regardless of how or when they became registered to vote.
As you know, under the official Oregon Motor Voter Program, the state registers Oregon residents aged 16 or older who are U.S. citizens to vote when they apply for a driver’s license or permit or ID card, or when they renew one of those, or when they ask to have one replaced. (They can’t vote unless they are at least 18 when the election takes place.)
If you want the details, check out the Election Division’s manual on the subject here.
Only people with documents proving their citizenship are eligible for this form of registration. But last month it developed that the DMV had been sloppy in ascertaining or recording the citizenship status of applicants. As it turned out, more than 1,000 non-citizens were found to have been registered.
Governor Kotek called for an independent audit of the system, and after a couple of days the story of the screwup disappeared from the news.
None of this has anything to do with people who drove to the ballot box outside the courthouse on Election Eve. Maybe they didn’t have time till then. Maybe they agonized over their votes for weeks. Or maybe their work schedule on Tuesday is full, and Monday night was the only time they had.
Whatever the reason, here they were, late on Monday, doing their civic duty and making sure their votes were cast. (hh)
‘Motor voters’ in action at courthouse
At about 8 p.m. Monday, drivers line up to reach the ballot drop box on the Fifth Avenue side of the Linn County Courthouse.
There’s a drive-up ballot box on the back side of the Linn County Courthouse in Albany. For a little while there on Monday night, it was a busy place.
What these people were doing, besides dropping off their ballots on Election Day Eve, was to remind me of Oregon’s Motor Voter system. They were actual motor voters, regardless of how or when they became registered to vote.
As you know, under the official Oregon Motor Voter Program, the state registers Oregon residents aged 16 or older who are U.S. citizens to vote when they apply for a driver’s license or permit or ID card, or when they renew one of those, or when they ask to have one replaced. (They can’t vote unless they are at least 18 when the election takes place.)
If you want the details, check out the Election Division’s manual on the subject here.
Only people with documents proving their citizenship are eligible for this form of registration. But last month it developed that the DMV had been sloppy in ascertaining or recording the citizenship status of applicants. As it turned out, more than 1,000 non-citizens were found to have been registered.
Governor Kotek called for an independent audit of the system, and after a couple of days the story of the screwup disappeared from the news.
None of this has anything to do with people who drove to the ballot box outside the courthouse on Election Eve. Maybe they didn’t have time till then. Maybe they agonized over their votes for weeks. Or maybe their work schedule on Tuesday is full, and Monday night was the only time they had.
Whatever the reason, here they were, late on Monday, doing their civic duty and making sure their votes were cast. (hh)
Tags: 2024 election, drive-up ballot box, Election Eve, general election, Linn County Oregon, Linn Couthouse