Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Less than two months before ballots arrive in your mailbox

Photos and story by Dana Haynes

We’re inside of the two-month mark. Gulp.

No, not two months from the election day on Nov. 4. That’s still 71 days away. But in just 53 days, the ballots are likely to hit mailboxes. And a certain proportion of the Oregon electorate votes right away.

Peter Wong, reporter for the Statesman Journal and dean of the Capitol press corps in Salem, tells me Saturday, Oct. 18, is the earliest possible date for ballots to arrive at your home. So for the Yes on PCC Campaign, D-day is just 53 days away.

Here are the other essential dates, culled from the Oregon Secretary of State’s Web site:

• Aug. 26 was the deadline for candidates and voters pamphlet filings.

• Sept. 20: Ballots will be mailed to long-term absent voters: expats who are still registered voters, those living briefly overseas and those serving in the military.

• Oct. 6: Ballots mailed to out-of-state voters.

• Oct. 8-10: The voters pamphlets will be delivered. (Yes, the Secretary of State’s office adds a plural possessive to that – “voters’ pamphlet.” A longtime copy editor for AP newspapers, I do not.)

• Oct. 14: Voter registration deadline. This one is important! If you haven’t registered to vote, do so by Tuesday, Oct. 14! I have copies of voter registration cards in my office, in both English and Spanish. If you want one for yourself or 100 for a club or class, drop me an e-mail at the address below.

• Oct. 17-21: Ballots mailed to voters throughout Oregon. That’s where Peter Wong gets Oct. 18 as the earliest possible date to open your mailbox and see your ballot.

• Tuesday, Nov. 4: Election day.

• Wednesday, Nov. 5: Dana’s nervous breakdown scheduled to begin.

Send your feedback to dana.haynes@pcc.edu. And thanks in advance.