http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a MSN - AP World Copyright © 2010-2018 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Thu, 03 Jul 2025 04:48:36 +0000 http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a/546d5af9d27449268b546bd5d33194b7 Ballots with blurry barcodes that can't be read by vote-counting machines will delay election results by weeks in a key U.S. House race in Oregon's primary. The fiasco affects up to 60,000 ballots in Oregon's third-largest county, Clackamas. (May 20) 546d5af9d27449268b546bd5d33194b7 Fri, 20 May 2022 19:11:45 +0000 SHOT LIST:RESTRICTION SUMMARY:ASSOCIATED PRESSOregon City, Oregon - 19 May 20221. Ballots being sorted by hand2. Clackamas County Election Clerk Sherry Hall points out ballot counting room UPSOUND (English) "All of the ballots coming in for election come through that door, and they get placed into mail trays, facing all the same direction."3. Ballot drop boxANNOTATION: Results from a key U.S. House race in Oregon's primary election is being delayed by thousands of ballots with blurry barcodes. 4. Sherry Hall holds sample ballots UPSOUND (English) "The barcode at the bottom has very intense black ink with crisp lines. The one that's bad at the top is ..."5. Close-up of two sample ballots, one good one badANNOTATION: The faulty barcodes, which can't be read by voting machines, could delay the election results by several weeks. Up to 60,000 ballots are affected.7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sherry Hall, Clackamas County elections clerk:"It needs to be duplicated exactly as the voter voted their original ballot.  And that's where the process is long and tedious."8. Ballots being sorted by handANNOTATION: The ballot debacle has stunned Oregon, a vote-by-mail pioneer state with a national reputation as a leader on voter access and equity.9 Sherry Hall holds sample ballot UPSOUND (English) "We definitely want to get to the bottom of what happened. But we haven't yet. We have an election to get done first."STORYLINE: Thousands of ballots with blurry barcodes that can't be read by vote-counting machines will delay results by weeks in a key U.S. House race in Oregon's primary election, a shocking development that is giving a black eye to a vote-by-mail pioneer state with a national reputation as a leader on voter access and equity.The fiasco affects up to 60,000 ballots, or two-thirds of the roughly 90,000 returned so far in Oregon's third-largest county. Hundreds of ballots were still coming in under a new law that allows them to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, and 200 Clackamas County employees were getting a crash course Thursday in vote-counting after being redeployed to address the crisis.Elections workers must pull the faulty ballots from batches of 125, transfer the voter's intent to a fresh ballot, then double-check their entries — a painstaking process that could draw the election out until June 13, when Oregon certifies its vote. The workers operate in pairs, one Democrat and one Republican, in two shifts of 11 hours a day.Voters from both political parties milled about in a narrow room with windows that allowed views of workers opening ballots, transferring votes, reviewing flagged ballots and using the vote-counting machines. They expressed shock at the error and anger at the slow reaction by embattled Elections Clerk Sherry Hall, who has held the elected post for nearly 20 years. By Wednesday night, workers had counted 15,649.The debacle has stunned Oregon, where all ballots have been cast only by mail for 23 years and lawmakers have consistently pushed to expand voter access through automatic voter registration, expanded deadlines and other measures. It's also thrown into question a key U.S. House race in a redrawn district that includes a large portion of Clackamas County, which stretches nearly 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers), from Portland's liberal southern suburbs to rural conservative communities on the flanks of Mount Hood.In the Democratic primary for Oregon's 5th Congressional District, seven-term Rep. Kurt Schrader, a moderate, was trailing in the vote behind progressive challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner. The outcome could have an outsized impact in November, with the possibility that voters could flip the seat for the GOP.Hall said the problem came to light May 3, when workers put the first ballots returned through the vote-counting machine. About 70 or 80 ballots from each batch of 125 were spit out as unreadable because their barcodes were more faint and slightly blurred. It was too late to print and mail new ballots, she said.As Election Day approached and ballots stacked up, Hall said she allowed elections workers to take the weekend off because just three people signed up to work Saturday or Sunday. "We have people mostly between the ages of 70 and 85" and they need rest, she said.The secretary of state's office said Hall declined help, saying Clackamas County could handle the situation. Hall told The Associated Press several county workers were assigned to the ballot problem May 11, a week after it surfaced.Hall said her department has discussed running test ballots from the printer before they were mailed out, but that her office had used the printer in question for 10 years with no issues.It's not the first time Hall has come under fire in her elections role. In 2012, a temporary election worker was sentenced to 90 days in jail after admitting she tampered with two ballots. In 2014, Hall was criticized for using the phrase "Democrat Party" — a pejorative used by Republicans to demean Democrats — on a primary ballot instead of Democratic Party.===========================================================Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com(ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. Ballots with blurry barcodes that can't be read by vote-counting machines will delay election results by weeks in a key U.S. House race in Oregon's primary. The fiasco affects up to 60,000 ballots in Oregon's third-largest county, Clackamas. (May 20) Oregon ballot fiasco delays House election results