Some Deschutes County voters say their ballot lists wrong party affiliation

(Update: Adding video, comments from Deschutes County clerk, voters)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Some Deschutes County voters say they found the wrong party affiliation listed on their ballots in the mail. 

Oregon has used the vote-by-mail system since 1996, and residents have received their May 19 primary ballots in the mail in recent days. 

Now, there are some people expressing concerns and claiming their listed party affiliation was changed without their prior knowledge or approval. 

Deschutes County clerk Nancy Blankenship told NewsChannel 21 when asked about one such complaint, "We only take instructions from what the voter tells us. Mistakes do occur, but we take precautions to limit those as much as possible."

Blankenship said Tuesday the county clerk's office accidentally put the wrong ballot in the wrong envelope for two people.

“We want to own up to that," Blankenship said. "It wasn't that they had a wrong party, it was just we made a mistake. But all the other calls we’ve been fielding is people forgetting what party they registered with.”

Blankenship said she received several calls from people who said the last time they registered a party was in the late '90s or early 2000s.

"If we made a mistake, we want to correct that," Blankenship said. "If you're under the impression we sent you the wrong party ballot, we want to verify either 'Yes, we did,' or 'No, we didn't.'"

She said the county clerk's office can also send screenshots of people's past voter records.

Jody Logsdon of Redmond said she was registered as non-affiliated for years, until changing her registration to Republican in 2008. She said when she checked online, she noticed her party had been changed back to non-affiliated. She said she changed it back to Republican online, but still received a non-affiliate ballot in the mail.

It's not just residents of Deschutes County claiming they received the wrong ballots in the mail.

Jessica Maxfield-Walters, who lives in the La Pine area and is registered to vote in Klamath County, told NewsChannel 21 she had a similar experience.

“I checked online afterwards, and it said I was unaffiliated, which was weird," Maxfield-Walters said. "I thought when you change your party, you get a card in the mail, and I never got a card in the mail."

Maxfield-Walters said she is not going to vote in this election because she does not feel it is right to vote under a party she did not willingly register with.

Blankenship said it's important for voters to look through the Voters' Pamphlet to keep track of important deadlines.

The deadline to change party affiliation in Deschutes County was April 28.​ Voters who wish to vote in the Democratic or Republican closed primary elections need to be registered as a member of that party by the deadline. 

However, Blankenship said it is not too late to update registration information, if people have moved and changed their mailing address. She said people can contact the county clerk's office directly to request a new ballot.

You can check the status of your voter registration online and make any updates to your information. The last day to send in your ballots is May 19.

For more information about the Oregon voting process, visit the Deschutes County clerk's office website.