Oregon Votes by Mail
Record turnout predicted in Oregon election10/23/2008, 5:28 p.m. PDT
By BRAD CAIN
The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon voter turnout for the Nov. 4 election will set a modern record, eclipsing the 86.5 percent turnout the state saw in the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential race, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury is predicting.
"There are a lot of people out there working to make sure everyone votes. It's going to be an incredibly high turnout," Bradbury said in an interview Thursday.
His prediction came as the latest tally showed the rate of mail ballot returns is running slightly ahead of this time in the 2004 presidential campaign, which had the second-highest turnout in Oregon history at 86.4 percent.
As of the end of the day Wednesday, nearly 195,000 Oregonians — or 9 percent of the state's 2.17 million registered voters — had mailed their ballots to local election offices, according to state figures.
In Oregon's 1960 presidential contest, Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat John F. Kennedy. That was back when Oregon was considered one of the most reliably Republican states west of the Mississippi.
It's a different story this year. Spurred by aggressive voter signup efforts by Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's campaign and other groups, Democratic voter registration has surged well past Republicans in a state that has been trending more Democratic blue in recent years.
Still, both Republicans and Democrats have been waging strong get-out-the-vote efforts since local election officials began mailing ballots to voters' households Oct. 17.
A coordinated effort involving the Obama campaign, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley's campaign and the Democratic Party of Oregon has been up and running in all 36 counties, a spokesman said.
"Volunteers are on the phones, at people's doorsteps and talking to their friends and neighbors," Democratic Party spokesman Marc Siegel said.
Despite Democrats' voter registration edge, Republicans aren't giving up.
"We started our effort the day the ballots went out last Friday. We are making phone calls and knocking on doors statewide to turn out our voters," said Oregon GOP spokeswoman Brianne Hyder.
Both sides are trying to persuade voters who've made up their minds about the various races and measures to not wait until the Nov. 4 deadline but to send them in now.
Under Oregon's unique vote-by-mail system, local election officials keep running lists of registered voters who have cast ballots. Campaigns and interest groups often purchase those lists during the voting period to help them contact people as part of their get-out-the-vote efforts.
To anyone who wants to avoid being called or contacted by the campaigns, Bradbury has some advice: "It's very simple — if you don't want to get those calls, mail in your ballot immediately."
