PORTLAND, Ore. — Voters are typically only supposed to receive one ballot unless they recently changed their voter registration. But, in Oregon City, all voters are receiving two ballots.
KGW set out to VERIFY: Why are Oregon City voters receiving two ballots?
All Oregon City voters should receive two ballots: one for the general election and one for the recall election of Mayor Dan Holladay.
General election ballots must be returned in their yellow-striped envelope by Nov. 3, while recall election ballots must be returned in their blue/black striped envelope by Nov. 10. The ballots cannot be returned in the same envelope, as Clackamas County explains in a YouTube video.
If you are an Oregon City voter and have not received both ballots, contact the Clackamas County election office. You can also track your ballot here.
Holladay is facing a recall election after Oregon City residents gathered enough signatures to force a special election. The mayor has faced several controversies this year: in April, he urged businesses to reopen in violation of Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-home order. Then in June, according to Oregonian/Oregon Live reporting, critics said he downplayed police brutality against Black people.
Later that month, the Recall Dan Holladay campaign filed a petition for the mayor’s recall. The campaign is supported by former Oregon City mayors Doug Neeley, Alice Norris and John Williams.
On Oct. 1, the campaign announced that it had gathered over 3,000 valid petition signatures to recall the mayor. Signatures from 2,400 people — 15% of Oregon City residents that voted in the 2018 governor race — were needed to trigger a special election.
Holladay was given the opportunity to resign or submit a statement of justification by Oct. 6. He submitted the statement of justification, so a special election ballot was sent out to all Oregon City residents for the Nov. 10 election.
If Holladay is voted out of office by a majority vote, a special election for a new mayor would be held in March 2021. Rachel Lyles Smith, Oregon City commission president, would lead city meetings until January, when the commission will select a new president.
As of Oct. 27, 23.3% of the 26,399 eligible voters returned their ballots for the mayoral recall election. For the general election, 55.5% of the 308,261 eligible voters in Clackamas County have voted.
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