It's vote by mail time in our unique little corner of the world. In Oregon, we've been voting by mail exclusively since 1998. Washington state passed a vote by mail law in 2011.

 

Most Oregonians received their ballots the weekend of Oct. 19-21. The hottest races here — and perhaps the ones that will most immediately impact Oregon AFSCME members — are those related to the Oregon Legislature, which will convene for a full session in early 2013. The 2011 Legislature saw a dead-even, 30-30 split in the Oregon House and Democrats with the barest possible majority of 16-14 in the Oregon Senate, so both chambers are literally up for grabs this election cycle.

 

Here are things to consider between now and Election Day, Nov. 6.

 

• Sorry, if you're not registered to vote, it's too late for this election (the deadline was Oct. 16), though we would encourage you to go ahead and get registered anyway. It's easy to register to vote online.

 

• If you haven't received your ballot by Oct. 26, you should contact your county elections office. In most cases, this is your county clerk's office; some larger counties have separate elections offices.

 

• In Oregon, your ballot must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks don't count, so if you mail your ballot, you should do so by Friday, Nov. 2. After that, to be safe, you should physically take your ballot to your county clerk/elections office, or deposit it in an official election drop box. Each county's website will list its drop box locations, and getting your ballot in an official drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day does count. (Washington's law allows for postmarks, which in turn delays official results for several days.)

 

• Your return ballot includes both an outer envelope and an inner secrecy envelope. You must sign the outer ballot on the designated line; unsigned ballots are not counted. The secrecy envelope is actually optional. As long as the outer envelope is properly signed, the ballot inside will be counted whether or not a voter chooses to use the secrecy envelope.

 

• Understand that under Oregon's public records law, whether or not you have voted is a public record. Not how you've voted, of course, but county elections offices constantly update their records to reflect who has voted as the days count down. A variety of organizations, including AFSCME, purchase these records (as frequently as daily in some cases) from each of Oregon's 36 counties and match them against voter files, then use that information to generate call lists. Ergo, the best way to stop getting political phone calls at home as the election approaches is to get your ballot turned in quickly, then your name gets purged from your county's "hasn't voted yet" list.

 

• If you're an Oregon AFSCME member, you should have received an AFSCME Voter Guide in the mail about the same time you received your ballot. If you didn't, there was some sort of glitch, but you can access the full list of Council 75 endorsement recommendations on the Election Central tab of this website.

 

• We can always use volunteers up through Election Day. New events (door-to-door canvasses, phone banks, literature drops, etc.) are added daily, so at this point, the most up-to-date information on volunteer opportunities can be best obtained by phoning your nearest Oregon AFSCME field office. In Portland (503-239-9858) ask for Matt Blanchard; in Salem (503-370-2522) ask for Ralph Groener. The other offices are smaller and you can simply talk to whoever answers the phone.