Many viewers asked us questions about how we know our elections are secure here in Oregon. We got the answers.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Election Day is on November 8 — but since Oregon is a vote-by-mail state, many people have probably already sent in their ballots. A number of viewers wrote in to ask us what happens next; how do we know our votes are handled and counted properly? We got answers from an expert, Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott.
The questions below are ones we received from viewers, followed by answers from Scott where applicable.
How are ballot boxes protected from people stuffing the boxes? Are they watched by security?
“Every ballot envelope is mailed with a unique ballot ID and barcode,” said Scott. “If the ballot envelope doesn’t contain those features, we will not process the ballot inside. If someone requests a replacement ballot and has two ballots in their possession, only the most recently issued ballot ID is valid, the other one is made invalid at the time of generating the replacement ballot.”
Sometimes seeing the process can help explain how it works. Last week, KGW toured the Multnomah County election headquarters. Scott showed our crew a large sorting machine that handles ballots.
Scott…
