Measure 92 Volunteers Chase Every Vote as GMO Campaign Goes down to the Wire

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

In an unprecedented situation, Measure 92 campaigning lives on thanks to new laws for challenged ballots and the closenest statewide race in recent memory.

Media outlets and pollsters declared that Measure 92, a public initiative that would require the labeling of genetically modified foods, a failure on Nov. 5. But with the vote still uncertified, and with all the ballots still not counted, pro Measure 92 supporter have been furiously canvassing thousands of voters whose ballots are in legal limbo.

“This is one of the closet statewide races that anyone can remember,” Tony Green with the Oregon Secretary of State Office said. “Oregon has never seen this kind of campaign before [where voters were canvassed after the vote].”

There are 13,000 ballots that might be discarded due to signature issues. In Oregon’s vote by mail system, election officials check the signature on the outside of the ballot envelope before counting a vote, If the signature is missing, or does not match the signature on file, the ballot is set aside.

Measure 92 supporters hope by contacting people with ‘challenged’ ballots they can close the gap in the vote to overturn the election.

Voters can visit their election office and sign the ballot or mail in a new voter registration card with an updated signature to get their ballot counted.

The list of people who can challenge their ballot is released by the Oregon Secretary of State Office.

The Measure 92 race was historically close, called with 93 percent of the votes in. It was defeated by 51 percent of 49 percent margin. However, a new law in 2013 changed the game when it comes to challenged ballots. Because of the new law, voters now had 14 days settle their ballot instead of 10. That and the list of voters with challenged ballots was released earlier than in past years.

The closeness of the race and the extra time has kept campaigners working past Election Day, something Oregon has not seen before. The Yes on 92 Campaign jumped on the opportunity and has been contacting the people around the state, sending dozens of volunteers knocking on doors and calling people to make sure they challenge their ballot.

“The goal is to win,” Kevin Glen, press secretary for the Yes on 92 Campaign, said. “We feel like the race is still too close to call and that it may have been called to early.”

Glen said he doesn’t see the efforts as a violation of voter privacy.

“I think that most people are aware of that whether you’ve voted is public knowledge in Oregon,” Glen said. “The secretary of state releases the list so that as many people as possible can make their vote count.”

The campaign against Measure 92 said they are not concerned about the result changing. Dana Bieber of the No on 92 Coalition said Oregon voters have spoken.

“The math is very clear,” Bieber said. “The measure has been defeated.”

All challenged ballots had until 5 p.m. on November 18 to be resolved. However, the state has until December 4th to certify the election results. December 9th is the deadline for a requesting a recount.

The margin for the decision must be within 2,900 votes or 1/5th of 1 percent of the vote to trigger automatic recount, according to Green.