PORTLAND, Ore. — Thanks to Oregon’s long-established vote-by-mail system, the state will proceed with the May 19 primary as planned, Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno said Thursday.
Voters will decide a host of non-partisan races, such as seats on city councils and county commissions; some money measures such as a homelessness services package put forward by the Metro regional government; and, for those who are registered members of the Democratic or Republican parties, nominees for an extraordinarily high number of open seats in the Oregon Legislature plus for Oregon secretary of state and six of Oregon’s seven seats in Congress.
In the marquee race for president, many voters won’t have much choice. Unaffiliated voters aren’t allowed to choose party nominees, and Republicans have already coalesced around their choice, President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term.
Registered Democrats will see three choices on their ballot, according to state candidate filing records: Joseph R. Biden, Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Although Warren dropped out some time ago and Gabbard did Thursday, both had already filed to appear on the Oregon ballot.
Clarno said Thursday she has set new steps in motion to make the primary a reality.
“The certified list of 371 candidates that filed to run for office has been sent to our county election experts this week so that they can begin laying out the ballots to be sent to the printer,” she said in a statement. “The voters’ pamphlet is also being put together and proofread so it can be sent to the printer later this month.”
Regular ballots will be mailed out starting April 29, the same day that students are currently scheduled to return to school.
Voters can register to vote, update their registration or change political parties online ahead of the April 28 deadline.
-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @OregonianPol
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This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving health issue.