Voting in Oregon

Voting is somewhat different here in Oregon than Ohio.  The joy I get from going to the polls and seeing fellow citizens buzz around no longer exists.  Oregonians vote by mail.  We get a ballot in our mailboxes as well as a packet of information on candidates and issues for each county. 

The information packet was very handy for this new Oregon voter.  I was able to learn from an unbiased source the background and beliefs of the candidates.  Ballot language for issues was also detailed.  Certain organized groups who were in favor of an issue or those against an issue were able to submit information as to why they were for or against the issue.  This was helpful if you didn’t quite understand the language, or in my case not knowing the history of such issues and the overall need of the state/county/city.  You could see who supported the issue and if you didn’t really care for the group in favor, then you may not want to vote for that issue. 

Another very different aspect of Oregon voting: medical marijuana.  It’s legal here in Oregon, but not in Ohio. I even qualify for being able to get a prescription having MS and all.   I have a feeling it’s not hard to get a prescription.  Measure 74 would have allowed medical marijuana dispensaries and would essentially make it easier for those who need medical marijuana to obtain it.   It didn’t pass.  Here’s a link to an interesting editorial as to why it should have passed and why Measure 73 (Minimum prison sentencing for DUI and two-time sex offenders) should not have passed. 

So once I reviewed the candidates and the issues, I sat at my desk in my underwear and voted.  Ohio frowns on people voting in their underwear.  Thomas was very interested in the democratic process as he sat on my lap while I voted.  We debated a few of the issues, and were not able to see eye to eye on Measure 75.  There were a few issues for which I didn’t feel confident voting, so I left them blank.  I don’t believe in voting uninformed and ill prepared.  As much as I researched, I still didn’t feel as a new Oregonian that I had a grasp on the issue.  It is a civic duty to vote, but part of that duty is to be informed.  I am a registered Democrat, but I don’t vote a straight D ticket all the time.  It makes me wonder if the deceased Californian senate candidate was re-elected because people voted a straight D ticket and were ill informed.  It could have happened that the GOP candidate was so awful that California would rather have a dead woman.  Either way, it’s funny.  Congratulations Jenny Oropeza.  You are admired even in death by your constituents. 

I had my ballot for a few weeks and could have mailed it in at any time, but I kept putting it off.  There’s something about physically doing something on Election Day that I longed to do.  I knew I wasn’t going to get an “I Voted Today” sticker, but I couldn’t let the day go by without acknowledgment.  I held onto my ballot that was in a secrecy envelope inside a mailing envelope.  Since it was too late to mail the ballot, I had until 8pm on November 2nd to turn it into a drop box.  Luckily there was a drop box on campus in the library.  I took a little time to walk over to the library which is across a green lawn from my office building.  I walked in and asked where the drop box was, and had I been paying attention, I would have noticed it was to my left.  I placed my envelope into the box and was happy to have voted in Oregon for the first time. 

It was an exciting election, especially that of the gubernatorial race.  Democrat Kitzhaber narrowly defeated Republican Dudley for a historic third term as governor.  I like looking at the map for this race.  It looks like Oregon is a red state, but the blue areas where Kitzhaber dominated were the more densely populated areas of Oregon: Portland, Eugene, Salem, etc.  I believe we saw this in Ohio in 08 for the presidential race.  Ohio was mostly red, but the densely populated urban areas were blue.  It seems as if Oregon is much like Ohio in this way where the rural areas tend to vote republican and the urban vote democratic.  I had preconceptions thinking that Oregon was more blue even in the rural areas. 

I feel like an official Oregonian now.