Clackamas County should carry out a extra in depth post-election audit than different counties due to its ballot-printing points, Secretary of State Shemia Fagan ordered Friday.
After each election, the secretary of state directs every county to hand-count votes in at the very least two races on randomly chosen batches of ballots to match with machine-tabulated outcomes. Fagan on Friday stated Clackamas County should do extra to rebuild belief with voters after a printing challenge that delayed outcomes and continually altering statements from County Clerk Sherry Corridor, who oversees elections.
“My mission as Oregon’s secretary of state is to construct belief,” Fagan stated. “However let’s face it, weeks of detrimental headlines eroded Oregonians’ belief in elections. Although processing the votes in Clackamas County was sluggish, it’s now my accountability to verify that it was executed accurately so voters can belief the election outcomes.”
Two weeks earlier than the Could 17 election, and after ballots had already been despatched out, Corridor realized {that a} portion of the county’s ballots had been printed with faulty barcodes. That printing error didn’t have an effect on any of the contests on a poll, however it meant tabulation machines couldn’t detect which races had been on a selected poll.
Fixing it meant county election staff, working in groups of two, wanted to hand-copy every faulty poll onto a brand new poll with a usable barcode. That takes about three minutes per poll, with one member of the staff studying off votes, the second filling out a brand new poll after which switching roles to make sure the 2 ballots match.
Clackamas County didn’t monitor what number of ballots it duplicated, however it estimated about two-thirds of the greater than 116,000 ballots solid had been affected. Corridor repeatedly promised earlier than the election that the labor-heavy course of wouldn’t considerably have an effect on the county’s capability to course of ballots, and he or she refused to simply accept assist from the state, different county clerks or non-elections Clackamas County staff till a number of days after the election.
Due to sluggish outcomes, voters didn’t be taught till 10 days after the election that U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader misplaced his seat , and voters within the thirty eighth Home District are nonetheless ready to be taught the winner of the Democratic main. Portland restaurateur Daniel Nguyen leads Neelam Gupta, director of medical assist, integration and workforce on the Oregon Well being Authority, by simply 14 votes, or .09%. The winner of the Democratic main is predicted to win in November due to the district’s voter demographics.
Clackamas County had greater than 2,400 ballots left to depend when it final reported outcomes on June 2. If Gupta and Nguyen stay inside 0.2 share factors by the point each vote is counted and licensed, the race will go to an computerized recount.
The county reported day by day updates over the last week of Could, then introduced June 2 that it will present no extra updates till Monday, June 13, the authorized deadline to certify the election. As of June 2, simply over 1,100 ballots nonetheless wanted to be duplicated and greater than 2,400 nonetheless wanted to be counted.
Fagan’s order requires Clackamas County to hand-count six countywide races on about 12,000 county ballots: Two Clackamas County fee races, three judges and the race for U.S. Senate. She additionally ordered hand-counts for precinct committee particular person ballots in 10 voting precincts.
Clackamas County should end its hand recount by June 23, except the secretary of state agrees to an extension, in keeping with the directive.
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Four Oregon lawmakers are calling on Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to help stop a plan that would kill 450,000 barred owls in an effort to save endangered spotted owls over the next 30 years.
The entrepreneurs were named by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
In a letter sent Tuesday, state Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Stayton, Rep. David Gomberg, D-Lincoln County, Rep. Virgle Osborne, R-Roseburg, and Sen.-elect Bruce Starr, R-Yamhill and Polk counties, asked the incoming Trump administration officials to stop the reportedly more than $1 billion project, calling it a “budget buster” and “impractical.”
Environmental groups Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy in late 2024 filed a federal lawsuit in Washington state to stop the planned killing of the barred owls.
Here is why the Oregon lawmakers are opposed to the plan, what the plan would do and why it is controversial.
In August 2024, after years of planning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came up with a proposal to kill a maximum of 450,000 invasive barred owls over 30 years as a way to quell habitat competition between them and the northern spotted owl.
Spotted owl populations have been rapidly declining due in part to competition from invasive barred owls, which originate in the eastern United States. Northern spotted owls are listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.
According to the USFWS plan, barred owls are one of the main factors driving the rapid decline of northern and California spotted owls, and with their removal, less than one-half of 1% of the North American barred owl population would be killed.
The plan was formally approved by the Biden administration in September 2024.
Shortly after it was announced, Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy immediately responded in opposition to the plan to kill barred owls. They argued the plan was both ill-conceived and that habitat loss is the main factor driving the spotted owls decline.
“Spotted owls have experienced significant population decline over decades,” a news release from the groups filing the lawsuit said. “This decline began and continues due to habitat loss, particularly the timber harvest of old growth forest. The plan is not only ill-conceived and inhumane, but also destined to fail as a strategy to save the spotted owl.”
In their complaint, the groups argued the USFWS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to properly analyze the impacts of their strategy and improperly rejecting reasonable alternatives to the mass killing of barred owls, such as nonlethal population control approaches, spotted owl rehabilitation efforts and better protections for owl habitat.
The four Oregon lawmakers are siding with the environmental groups and calling for Musk and Ramaswamy to reverse the federal government’s plan to kill the barred owls. It was not immediately clear how the two could stop the plan.
The lawmakers letter stated the plan was impractical and a “budget buster,” with cost estimates for the plan around $1.35 billion, according to a press release by the two groups.
The letter speculates there likely isn’t an excess of people willing to do the killing for free: “it is expected that the individuals doing the shooting across millions of acres – including within Crater Lake National Park – will require compensation for the arduous, night-time hunts,” according to the press release.
“A billion-dollar price tag for this project should get the attention of everyone on the Trump team concerned about government efficiency,” Diehl said. “Killing one type of owl to save another is outrageous and doomed to fail. This plan will swallow up Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars for no good reason.”
USFWS says they aren’t trying to trade one bird for the other.
“As wildlife professionals, we approached this issue carefully and did not come to this decision lightly,” USFWS Oregon State Supervisor Kessina Lee said in announcing the decision in August. “Spotted owls are at a crossroads, and we need to manage both barred owls and habitat to save them. This isn’t about choosing one owl over the other. If we act now, future generations will be able to see both owls in our Western forests.”
Statesman Journal reporter Zach Urness contributed to this report.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval can be reached at GSandoval@gannett.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
A rebound basket with 3.5 seconds left in overtime allowed Santa Clara to escape with an 82-81 overtime win over Oregon State in men’s basketball Thursday night.
The Beavers, looking for their first road win of the season and their third since 2021, just missed when Tyeree Bryan’s tip-in with 3.5 seconds left was the difference.
Oregon State, leading 81-78, had two chances to rescue the win.
Adama Bal, fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, made his first two free throws but missed the third. But Bal outfought OSU for the rebound, then kicked the ball out to Christoph Tilly, whose three-point shot glanced off the rim. Bryan then knifed between two Beaver rebounders, collecting the ball with his right hand and tipping it off the backboard and into the basket.
OSU (12-5, 2-2 WCC) came up short on a half-court shot at the buzzer.
The loss spoiled what was a 12-point second-half comeback for Oregon State, which led by as many as four points in overtime.
Parsa Fallah led the Beavers with 24 points and seven rebounds. Michael Rataj had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Isaiah Sy scored 12 points and Damarco Minor 11.
Elijah Maji scored 21 points for Santa Clara (11-6, 3-1), which has won eight of its last nine games.
The game was tied at 32-32 at halftime following a first half where OSU trailed by as many as 12 points. Fallah and Minor combined to score the final eight points as OSU finished the half on a 10-2 run.
The game began to get away from the Beavers again as Santa Clara built a 60-48 lead with 9:43 remaining. Sy got OSU going with a three-pointer, as the Beavers whittled away at the deficit. OSU eventually grabbed the lead at 67-65 with 5:19 left on another three by Sy. It was a defensive brawl for the rest of regulation, as neither team scored during the final 1:58.
Oregon State never trailed in overtime until the final three seconds. A Sy three with 1:29 left gave the Beavers a four-point cushion. After the Broncos later cut the lead to one, Fallah’s layup with 17 seconds left put OSU up 81-78.
Oregon State returns to action Saturday when the Beavers complete their two-game road trip at Pacific. Game time is 7 p.m.
–Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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Cal Mukumoto answers to the Oregon Board of Forestry, a citizen board appointed by the governor that helps oversee and implement forest policy. His resignation was announced Thursday during a board meeting by Chair Jim Kelly.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto has resigned.
Mukumoto’s resignation was announced Thursday by Board of Forestry Chair Jim Kelly during a meeting of the board. Mukumoto answers to the board, a citizen panel appointed by the governor that helps oversee and implement forest policy.
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