Multnomah County Elections Officials Clarify How Many Ballots Remain Uncounted—and Why

Elections officials still have 3,032 ballots with signature issues. That’s a little more than half a percent of the ballots received and counted.

Sorting ballots in the November election. (Motoya Nakamura / Multnomah County)

A mass text message many Republican voters in Multnomah County have received is stirring some confusion, county officials say.

"We have received numerous reports of text messages that have been sent to voters who are registered as Republicans suggesting that thousands of votes will not be counted," county elections director Tim Scott said in a statement. "That is not true."

The text message reads: "ALERT: Thousands of Multnomah County ballots remain UNCOUNTED due to signature issues. Call 503-988-8683 to verify that your ballot was counted ASAP."

County officials say the text message is technically accurate but could also be misleading.

They have received and counted 465,555 ballots but still have 3,032 "challenge ballots" in which the signature on the ballot envelope doesn't match the signature on file or the envelope is unsigned.

Challenge ballots crop up in every election cycle, and there's an established process for resolving them: County election officials send a letter to the voter alerting the voter there is a problem. The voter then has two weeks—until Nov. 17, in this case—to provide an updated signature card or a statement that the voter meant to cast a ballot but forgot to sign.

While President Donald Trump challenges mail-in ballots as he clings to power, Republicans in Oregon have a powerful incentive to get their voters to resolve challenge ballots.

That incentive is the race in House District 52, which includes Hood River County and parts of Clackamas and Mulnomah counties. In that race, incumbent state Rep. Anna Williams (D-Hood River) leads Republican challenger Jeff Helfrich by just 175 votes, which is 0.45% of the 38,845 ballots counted in the race.

On Nov. 6, Helfrich, who then trailed Williams by just 94 votes, posted on the Timber Unity Facebook page, imploring GOP voters to be on the lookout for communication from elections officials.

"If you receive a letter from your county clerk notifying you that your ballot was not counted due to a signature matching issue, it is CRITICAL that you make time to visit the county clerk's office as soon as possible to verify your signature and get your vote counted," Helfrich wrote. "If your ballot was rejected, please take the time to visit your county clerk and have it resolved. It truly could make the difference in this race."

That's particularly true in Clackamas and Multnomah counties, where Helfrich is outperforming Williams.

In Oregon, a vote margin of less than two-tenths of 1 percent triggers an automatic recount.

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