The latest on the ballot tampering scandal in Clackamas County

Kari Chisholm

The ballot tampering scandal in Clackamas County is exploding in a number of ways. No matter what happens on Election Day, this is going to be a story for months.

• The O's Yuxing Zheng reports that at least two ballots are "highly suspect", won't be counted, and are being held as evidence in the criminal investigation. In addition, investigators are able to track which ballots were handled by the employee alleged to have marked ballots - and those ballots have been "quarantined" and are being held for review.

• According to Zheng's reporting, while there is video surveillance of the ballot processing room, this incident was not caught on tape. Which begs a number of questions: Why is there a blind spot in the video security system? Did the election worker know there was a blind spot? If so, how did she know it - and was she responsible for it?

• A county attorney noted that most election workers come back cycle after cycle. County Commissioner Ann Lininger notes that this means that the election worker may have tampered with ballots in past elections:

"I would hate for us to be unwilling to learn if the problem goes deeper," Lininger said. "While it's good this person was caught this time, we don't know how many times this may have happened in the past. There have been quite a number of elections irregularities and problems over the past many years."

• Over the weekend, the Secretary of State and the elections division sent a second electiom monitor - Brenda Bayes, the state deputy director of election - to observe the count. She joins Fred Neal, a retired elections director, in Clackamas County.

• A recall effort has begun against Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall. One of the leaders of the effort is Dave Adams, the fellow behind the "Ludlow is a Bully" signs. And this morning, recall supporters gathered for a protest in front of Clackamas County Elections to call for Hall's resignation.

• Our Oregon has launched a petition drive asking Oregonians to demand a fair election in Clackamas County. So far, 855 signatures. Sign the petition here.

• Sherry Hall failed to appear at this morning's emergency meeting of the Clackamas County Commission. In a memo last night, County Chair Charlotte Lehan outlined a long series of detailed questions facing the county.

On the jump, Lehan's questions...

• At what time did the alleged tampering occur and who observed it?

• Are there video tape records available? If so, please provide them as soon as possible to the Board of County Commissioners for review.

• If there are video tape records, have they been reviewed and has any review discovered any irregularities such as blind spots in the room or unexplained shut-offs or gaps?

• How many General Election ballots were handled by the employee alleged to have tampered with ballots?

• Have those ballots been separated or quarantined?

• If they have been separated, when and how will they be examined for evidence of tampering?

• If more ballots appear to have been tampered with, what will happen to them?

• How many election cycles has that employee worked?

• Was the employee a full-time county employee, temporary worker or volunteer?

• How many temporary workers and volunteers have been involved in the November 6, 2012 election?

• Please describe the screening process used to evaluate temporary workers and volunteers before they are hired.

• What assurances do we have that this incident is limited to only one worker?

• Please explain the security measures and safeguards that were in place to prevent ballot tampering prior to the current incident.

• Please explain any additional or different measures that are in place now.

• Who has access to the Elections Office 24/7?

• How and by whom is the Elections Office secured?

• Why did the Elections Office call the West Linn police to stop campaign volunteers from collecting ballots in West Linn on November 2, 2012?

• Who made that request and at the direction of whom did the Elections Office employee act?

Lots of good questions there. What are your questions?

By Kari Chisholm Nov. 05, 2012