County officials condemn political violence, plan tabletop exercise

With increasing violence this election season, Lane County officials will participate in a tabletop exercise to practice responding to the unexpected. Giving commissioners an update July 16:

Dena Dawson (Lane County clerk): I wanted to provide an election security update. Even before the events that occurred on Saturday, political violence and election security are basically top of mind for me all the time. And I just wanted to address some of the ways that we continue to address the situation.

[00:00:31] We’re working with Facilities now to improve security for staff and for the public here at the Elections Office. Right now I’m working with TS (Technology Services), IS (Information Services), Emergency Management and the policy team to apply for a grant that would allow us to place cameras at select drop boxes before the general election. Devon (Ashbridge), the PIO (public information officer), and I continue to work on a plan to flood social media with accurate and educational information.

[00:01:01] And I’m really pleased to announce that Tiffany Brown, the emergency manager, and I have been brainstorming and the Office of Emergency Management and Elections are going to be co-hosting a tabletop training exercise for the election nerds in the group. We’ll call it a TTX. That event will be for our local, state, and federal public safety partners this fall.

[00:01:25] And for those that aren’t familiar with the TTX, it’s basically a role-playing exercise where participants will respond in real time to a scenario. And these exercises really help illuminate gaps in our processes and potentially our public safety partners’ process, help us to get to know each other better, how we can work together. And it allows us and our public safety partners to better prepare for the unexpected and to identify any gaps.

[00:01:56] So in light of the world that we live in and political violence and election security, we’re continuing to try to do better.

[00:02:05] John Q: She discussed the recall election in Cottage Grove.

[00:02:10] Dena Dawson (Lane County clerk): Today is the first day that we’re picking up and collecting ballots for the recall election for Cottage Grove, so lots going on, and I appreciate the time to share a couple of updates. For the recall election, we are two weeks out: Cottage Grove, three councilors, considered a small election, 7,500 voters, just one ballot style that was created.

[00:02:37] Because there’s only a short 35-day window, we mail all of the ballots basically out at the same time. We’ve just got the Cottage Grove box open and the box here at the elections office open. The typical thing you can expect from the Elections Department is that we have the tentative schedule of events, the results schedule, other important dates and information are available on the landing page on the website and so we’re really trying to build that consistency so folks know what they can expect for us.

[00:03:05] We are 112 days away from the presidential election. So we have the elections landing page for the presidential election. Special district candidate filing begins this week. We’re only 32 days away from the deadline for folks to refer prepared ballot titles or texts for the challenge period. And that means we’re going to be creating and proofing ballots in just 52 days. And so we’re being as diligent as ever to make sure that we are prepared.

[00:03:40] An interesting piece from the May primary election is that we had a recount because of a tie for state representative District 8 position, but there was no candidate that filed for that position, so the tie was due to the top two write-ins and both of those write-ins received only seven votes. So we quickly had to pull a team together and do a hand count of over 4,000 ballots. And those are a great opportunity to highlight accuracy in elections because we ended up with zero discrepancies.

[00:04:23] We pulled in a team of election workers. They went through and hand-counted every single ballot for that race and we ended up with the same exact results. So I’m really proud of the efforts that we put into our determination of voter intent and how we were able to accurately reproduce those results.

[00:04:44] So we’re open to the public if they’re interested to come and observe those things and it’s something I’m really proud of.

[00:04:51] Commissioner Pat Farr: Thanks for a great presentation. I love hearing you talk about elections. I find out something new every single time. And the thing that you really focus on is the security and the confidence that you personally have, and you instill that confidence in me. When you talk about a recount that came out exactly the same as the original count. That is an illustration of really how the system does operate as it is intended to operate. And thank you for the professionalism that you bring to the work and the new bar that you’ve established for the way we conduct elections in Lane County. We all appreciate that.

[00:05:25] I have a question specifically about the Cottage Grove recall. I’m paying close attention to that. We all should. And that you mentioned that the ballots were mailed?  Can you go through the process and when is the deadline for return on the ballots?

[00:05:41] Dena Dawson (Lane County Elections): Yeah, absolutely. The Cottage Grove recall date is July 30, and so the deadline to return ballots is either postmarked by July 30 or at the Cottage Grove drop box by 8 p.m. on two weeks from today (July 16), or the election drop box or here at the election office. Because it’s a recall election, we have 35 days from the day that the candidates do not resign to pull it all together.

[00:06:07] So ballots were mailed to voters on July 11. That was just five days ago. And we’ve posted it on social media; again, working with (PIO) Devon (Ashbridge) to make sure that we’re providing information that is helpful and educational and useful for our followers.

[00:06:24] So yes, there’s two weeks left for folks. Really hoping for a high turnout; 7,513 voters in Cottage Grove that should have received a ballot just for voters in the city limits of Cottage Grove in the district. If folks in that area have not received a ballot yet, contact our office right away and we’ll get you a replacement.

[00:06:44] Commissioner Pat Farr: Well, thank you for the details on that. You say 7,513 registered voters in that district. (Yes.) And I was going to ask you a question. I hate speculation. It’s not something I like to engage in speculation regarding, but I was going to ask you what do you expect the turnout to be. You said high. That’s all I need. You don’t need to speculate beyond that.

[00:07:03] Dena Dawson (Lane County Elections): Let me clarify. I am hoping for high but I am expecting low. I am going to do my best to educate folks on it and put it in social media as frequently as we can and provide good information on our website, but unfortunately recall elections don’t typically garner a lot of participation, so we’re going to do our best. And you know, I was hoping for 45% turnout in the primary election too and we ended up at 36%. So I don’t think we’re going to be processing that many ballots for the recall election, but I hope I’m wrong.

[00:07:38] Commissioner Pat Farr: Well, and I hope that we can do something to encourage people to vote because it’s very, very important. And if a few people make a big decision like that then we’re apt to get the wrong decision made. Thank you.

[00:07:48] John Q: With a brief statement about the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania:

[00:07:54] County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky: This last weekend an inexcusable act of political violence was committed. We at Lane County denounce political violence of any kind. It is antithetical to our democracy and something that should neither be tolerated nor encouraged.

[00:08:10] Across Lane County, there are thousands of residents who serve as elected, appointed, or volunteer leaders throughout local governments and community organizations… It’s important that these individuals are able to fulfill their roles without the threat of violence or intimidation. Communities are stronger when thoughtful and respectful discourse is the norm.

[00:08:33] We are committed to do our part to ensure the peaceful continuance of the democratic system that underpins our nation.

[00:08:42] Commissioner David Loveall: I think also too I want to make a statement from my own personal perspective about the events of the past weekend. And I want to say that they remind us nationally and locally that the summation of words matter and the use of violence on any level is unacceptable. Lane County Board of Commissioners do not condone any form of hate, bias, or the use of violence to make a political point or to use as a weapon of influence.

[00:09:05] The Washington Post said on Sunday, the darkest hours of American history, the ones overshadowed by political violence, remind us that incitement and hatred must be constantly challenged.

[00:09:18] So I would like to say on behalf of myself and any board member that would agree with me that we want to express our sincere sorrow over the recent events to the innocent victims and their families, but also to take this chance to renew our commitment to ensuring the peaceful continuance of a diverse, fair political system.

[00:09:38] This will only continue when elected officials bear constant vigilance to challenging those seeds of volatility that may take root in the soil of diverse perspectives. By this firm stewardship and attention, we are committed as a board to bringing the nation together, by first putting these values as a pillar into our own local community, and we will do this first and foremost as your elected officials.

[00:10:01] John Q: County officials condemn political violence and will participate in a tabletop exercise to prepare for more of it.