Deschutes County Clerk’s Office tests ballot-counting system for next month’s election

But in a lower-profile, 'off-year' election, with just 2 money measures, will most eligible voters cast ballots?

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Gearing up for the Nov. 7 Special Election, the Deschutes County Clerk's Office held its public pre-election test of the ballot-counting system on Tuesday, as Clerk Steve Dennison talked about assuring accuracy -- and promoting participation.

"The county clerk's office is responsible for all things voting," county Clerk Steve Dennison said. "So knowing where we are and where to find us, if voters have questions, calling us and just validating -- maybe somebody heard something on national news or a Twitter feed or an X feed back east, you know -- it's what happens here, what are our processes here."

When ballots are received, Dennison and his staff get initial information from a header card.

“The header card tells the system what batch number it is, and any ballots that are scanned after that are associated with this batch," Dennison said.

Scanning ballots is next. Specific marks and voting circles are detected, in order to determine a voter's choices and if a ballot is legal.

“These timing marks, the black marks around the border on the front and back and on the bottom tells the system what ballot style this is, so what precinct this is and what the content on this ballot needs to be,” Dennison said.

The upcoming Nov. 7 Special Election, a so-called "off-year" election, has mailed out 37,000 ballots from registered voters who live in specific areas. Without big state or national contests this time, the clerk's office is concerned about how many voters will fill out and return their ballots. 

“Even this last May, it was a special district election, so it is all of our local contests, your fire districts, your school boards, library boards, you know, things like that, and some other local measures," he said. "We reached a 31% turnout. So it was a very small turnout."

"We hope that everyone votes -- everyone that receives a ballot," the county clerk noted.

Dennison is hopeful that educating voters will lead to a higher voter turnout in the upcoming election.

"We create a Voters Pamphlet for each election. That's where voters can find information on the measures or candidates, if it's an election with candidates. This is the guide where they can find more information, and instructions on how to vote.”

The Special Election features just two measures within Deschutes County, the Redmond Fire and Rescue local option levy and the Ponderosa Pines Road District five-year local option tax. There are also some Deschutes County residents who will be voting on a Crooked River Ranch Rural Fire District levy, since CRR is partially in Deschutes County.

You also can find the information line, at: https://www.deschutes.org/clerk/page/november-7-2023-special-election.