Correction in Oregon

It appears that Measure 35, putting damage caps on medical malpractice awards, is still very close. Who knew this was going to be the squeaker in Oregon? Stay tuned to find out if the “lousy doctors and big insurance companies”, or the “greedy trial lawyers”, are the winners.

Oregon State Treasurer

I forgot to mention, incumbent Randall Edwards gets to be Treasurer again.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Oregon goes to Kerry. Everyone else is saying it is too close to call. You heard it here first. That’s just based on my own intuition; the returns aren’t very close right now but the t.v. pundits say that’s because most of the counted ballots were from Multnomah County (Portland), which is overwhelmingly Kerry country.

Oregon Results

Projections from KOIN 6:

Measures 31 and 32 were considered easy passes.

Measure 33, Medical Marijuana amendments: NO

Measure 35, Damage Caps: NO

Measure 36, banning Gay Marriage: YES

Measure 37, compensation for Land Use regs: YES

Measure 38, abolish SAIF: NO

More as it develops.

More Oregon results

Measure 34 defeated.

Darlene Hooley wins District 5.

Katu is projected that Measure 36, banning gay marriage, passes.

David Wu wins by a Landslide

David Wu beats the pants off his opponent Ameri. Early projections show Wu getting 76%. (In light of the recent allegations, should I have used that particular turn of phrase? Eh.)

Oregon Polls are Closed

KGW has called several races in Oregon:

SENATE: Democrat Ron Wyden over Republican Al King.
DISTRICT 3: Four-term Democratic Rep. Earl Bluemenauer over Republican Tami Mars.
DISTRICT 2: Republican Rep. Greg Walden gets a fourth term over John McColgan.
DISTRICT 4: Nine-term Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio beat Republican former FBI agent Jim Feldkamp.
Also, Hardy Myers wins Attorney General and SecState Bill Bradbury gets to keep his office too.

Tom Potter has 62% of the votes over Franscesconi.

Tighter: The Adams/Fish race very close right now: 51% Sam Adams over 48% Nick Fish.

Also early projections indicate that the 26-64 tax repeal will go down: 52% voting No over 47% yes.

Peter Jennings Wrong About Oregon Voting

Peter Jennings and historian Michael Beschloss just said that people in Oregon “aren’t even allowed to vote on what is Election Day for everyone else,” because we’ve already voted by mail. They are wrong: The polls are still open in Oregon until 8 p.m! Here in Multnomah County, Katu 2 is reporting LONG lines, people waiting for their provisional ballots or replacement ballots. Everyone in line at 8 will still get to vote. So don’t listen to Peter Jennings; go on out and vote, Oregonians!

Oregon SecState Bradbury Accused of Impropriety

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury apparently has links to articles endorsing his campaign from the State’s Executive Office webpage. His opponent, Betsy Close, says he is using his office as “a political stage.”

Oregon Nearly Done

Katu Channel 2 is reporting that 75% of Oregon voters have already voted. Oregon is expected (duh) to go to Kerry.

Ensuring That The Cutoff IS the Cutoff

Lane County Oregon officials are going to issue badges to people standing in line at 8 p.m. to cast ballots to ensure that no one votes who got in line after the deadline. In lines of cars waiting to drop of ballots, police cruisers will pull in behind the last car to get in line before 8. How will they tell? Synchronized watches.

Ensuring That The Cutoff IS the Cutoff

Lane County Oregon officials are going to issue badges to people standing in line at 8 p.m. to cast ballots to ensure that no one votes who got in line after the deadline. In lines of cars waiting to drop of ballots, police cruisers will pull in behind the last car to get in line before 8. How will they tell? Synchronized watches.

Union Turnout Huge in Oregon

The Bend Bugle is calling this year’s election the “biggest, most unified labor campaign effort in Oregon history.” The AFL-CIO estimates a 90% voter turnout among its members in Oregon, expected to be the highest in the nation.

Huge Union Turnout in Oregon

The Bend Bugle says this year’s effort was the “biggest, most unified labor campaign effort in Oregon history.” The ALF-CIO projects that it will exceed 90% voter turnout among its members this year in Oregon, the highest turnout in the nation.

Oregonian's Popular Undecided Blogger Goes Libertarian

In a segment about the undecided college-aged voter, the Oregon Daily Emerald reports on popular undecided blogger for the Oregonian, Colin Elliott. Elliott decided to cast his vote for Badnarik.

Does anyone care? Probably not. But since Oregon is a mail-in state, there isn’t a whole lot going on right now to cover.

The Election Worker's Prayer

“May all your races be lopsided.” The Portland Tribune is reporting on the system of checks to ensure that voter fraud does not happen in Oregon’s mail-in ballot system. If you’re concerned about fraud, please read this soothing article.

Pundits Calling Oregon and Washington for Kerry

Isn’t it a little early for that?

Don't Give Up!

I would just like to remind Oregon voters that if you are in line by 8 p.m. tomorrow night to drop off your ballot, your vote will count! You just have to be in line by 8, not actually have your ballot in by 8. Of course, you could avoid that by going early, but it’s nice to know.

You've Got To Know When To Hold 'Em

Conservative radio talk show hosts in Oregon are being blamed for derailing the Republican get-out-the-vote effort. Top party officials have been encouraging voters to vote early. This allows the canvassers to focus on people who are likely to support Republican candidates who have not yet turned in their ballots.

Conservative talk radio hosts, however, have urged listeners to hold onto their ballots until the last possible moment, out of fear of tampering. This, however, raises the possibility that some of the voters will have a crisis of some sort and their ballot will not get turned in at all.

What’s an Oregon voter to do? This voter’s advice is simple: Today, tomorrow, last week or tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.: as long as you get it turned in before the deadline, it shouldn’t matter when you turn it in. Just make sure you do so.

More on Republican Vote-Blocking Accusations

Yesterday I reported here that Democrats were accusing Republicans of trying to block thousands of votes in Oregon due to a letter sent challenging ballots sent by newly-registered voters who had not identified themselves. KGW is now reporting that the attorney who sent that letter is a volunteer with Victory 2004 (an arm of the Bush-Cheney campaign) and was not authorized to send it by the GOP in Oregon.

Party officials are not, however, ruling out the possibility that they may challenge ballots on such grounds.

Criticisms and Defenses of the Vote-By-Mail System

The Oregonian extolls at length the virtues of voting by mail in this article, and discusses how this year “is a bad year to be on an Election Commission.”

More on Fundraising Trends

The Salem Statesman-Journal reports that fundraising in most races this year are the same as in 2000 and 2002.

But according to the Money in Politics project, Senate candidates overall have raised $3.6 million and House candidates $5.2 million for Tuesday’s general election — about the same amounts as in their campaigns two years ago.

“There has been a steady increase in fund-raising, except for 1996, and then it leveled off between 2000 and 2002 because of the economy,” said Janice Thompson, project executive director. “This appears to be a continuation of that trend.”

Oregon voters limited contributions from individuals and political action committees to $100 apiece, effective for the 1996 election, but the Supreme Court overturned the limits in 1997.

In the 2002 primary and general elections, a record $16.8 million was spent on legislative campaigns — compared with barely $800,000 30 years earlier.

Interestingly, the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association gave $242,000 to candidates in 2002, but only $87,000 so far this year. Tied up with the damage caps measure, maybe?

One-Sentence Endorsements

Thanks to the Oregonian, now you can get their one-line endorsements on all candidates and ballot measures facing Oregon voters today and tomorrow. The World According To The Oregonian. Please remember that if you have not mailed your ballot yet, you should not do so. Instead, drop it in person at one of the drops around town — if it is postmarked Nov. 2, that’s not good enough! It has to actually be at the election commission on Nov. 2.

And The Money Keeps Rolling In

For the Oregon House District 54 race this year (Burley-Stiegler), the money is still pouring in. According to the Bend Bugle, contributions for this one race will be well past half a million dollars by the time the election is over. The whole story here.

Likely Voters in Oregon Pick Kerry, Potter, and Fish

The Portland Tribune just put up a new poll of 400 likely voters in Portland and 600 statewide. Kerry wins 49% over Bush 43%, with 5% undecided still. (Who are these people?!?) Potter trounces Francesconi 53% to 35%; and Fish beats Adams 42% to 37% (with 21% undecided there).

More interestingly, 49% of likely voters would vote “Yes” on Measure 35, limiting non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits. 57% of likely voters are supporting Measure 36, amending the constitution to define marriage as solely between one man and one woman. And 48% of people are in favor of Measure 37, requiring payment from the government when land use restrictions reduce property value. 50% of voters say No to Measure 38, abolishing SAIF, the state workers compensation insurance (13% undecided).

I report, you decide.

County Officials Worried About Fisticuffs

Deschutes County (Oregon) officials are posting sheriffs to keep an eye on the people keeping an eye on the vote-counting, fearing that name-calling will expand to flying fists in this hotly contested election.

Can’t we all just get along?

Democrats Accuse Republicans Of Trying to Block Thousands of Votes

The Oregonian is reporting that Republicans have asked the state to set aside ballots from newly-registered voters who did not provide proof of identification when registering.

Oregon has a unique vote-by-mail system where every ballot is a mail-in ballot. We are now fourteen days into an eighteen-day election period. More than 200,000 new voters have registered in Oregon since May, with many of them under 25 and living in the very liberal Portland area.

I’m one of them, and when I registered, the form instructed me to Xerox my driver’s license (which has my old Illinois address on it) and also something with my current address (like a bill) to send in with my registration to verify my identity. Apparently some people haven’t done that, and Republicans want the state to double-check and make sure those people are really who they say they are. Democrats are objecting, saying that the threat that lying is a Class C felony should be enough, and because the GOP is only doing this in traditionally liberal Multnomah County it is a partisan trick. Developing story.