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News / Northwest

Determined voters try to jam late ballots into locked slots

The Columbian
Published: November 9, 2017, 9:44am

EUGENE, Ore. — Late voters may get credit for trying, but their ballots don’t count.

The Register-Guard reports elections employees in Eugene were sent to two drop boxes Wednesday afternoon to fetch ballots that voters tried in vain to cram into slots that were locked after Tuesday’s 8 p.m. election deadline.

A couple of years ago, the county clerk’s office hired a welder to make special locks to completely close the slots after the deadline. Residents called the office Wednesday to report that ballots were sticking out of the boxes.

State rules require the elections office to log the ballots and notify the voters in writing that their late ballot does not count.

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