Lane County voter turnout lagging--compared to 2008
»Play Video
EUGENE, Ore. - Voter turnout in Lane County so far is lagging behind the pace of the 2008 presidential election.
Officials, however, think the numbers will catch up by the weekend.
After the first week of voting--the numbers are in.
20% of Lane County voters have mailed in their November election ballots.
Which isn't bad, but it lags behind the 24% return rate after the first week of the 2008 fall election.
Lane County election managers still expect a big final turnout when it's all over, anywhere from 85% to 90% of ballots.
They do want voters to know the mail-in deadline is just around the corner.
"We recommend that voters stop mailing them back after this Thursday. So you can drop them in the mail this Thursday but starting Friday on (Nov. 2),
we recommend that you utilize one of our 21 drop site locations," explains Cheryl Betschart, the Lane County Clerk.
Betschart fully expects the ballot return numbers will pick up, given the presidential election and the high number of Oregon ballot measures.
She says a lot of voters still like to wait for the real election day before they turn in their ballots.
"That's true--we do receive our higher return on the day before the election and on election day and that's typically the patterns that have
been in place for a number of years, but certainly you see that more for the presidential election," says Betschart.
She stresses if you still have not received your mail in ballot, now is the time to call Lane County elections to check your status.
The statewide (Oregon) ballot return rate so far for the election is 19%.
I still haven't received my ballot. It's angering because I really want to vote. I wish there was somewhere I could go to vote, such as a booth, or maybe a way to vote online. I really care about voting in this election, and I don't think I'm going to be able to.
Still think we should go back to the voting booths. I think people took more time to inform themselves about candidates and issues, so that they were ready to go to the polls. Vote by mail is for lazy people. All that is required is an easy chair and a pen. Don't have to do any studying, or reading, just go down the row and mark every candidate in the party you are registered in. Never mind if they are good, bad or indifferent, just mark them. Mark all the judges that run unopposed, don't write in anybody. If you ask me elections have sort of turned into a joke. I envision "Honey would you fill out my ballot, I'm feeding the kids. I will sign it later.", or "Honey will you fill out my ballot, I have to clean the rain gutters, I will sign it later." I really don't think a good share of the population even knows what they are voting for if they do vote. It is shameful in our free society. Take care of it carefully or it will go away!
I think we should be able to see how are votes were counted, I want to see if my vote was counted correctly.
Everyone I know is hip to the fact that both political parties are bought and sold by wallstreet and represent endless wars of greed and empire.
Good!, dumb voters in Lane County
It will be interesting to see if the final turnout is significantly less than 2008. The talking heads have been saying that the enthusiasm level nationwide has been less for Obama than last time. Since Oregon has been basically given as an Obama state by everyone, that may be part of the issue of turnout.