Election night vote coumting in Clackamas County

Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall has apologized for her office's overlooking a box containing 341 ballots on election night, May 17. The ballots have since been added to measure and race tallies and did not affect any outcomes, according to the county.

(The Oregonian/Staff (2013))

Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall apologized Friday after elections officials announced that a box containing 341 ballots - including some from Multnomah and Washington counties - was found during a final inventory of election equipment.

A review determined the ballots all came in prior to the 8 p.m. deadline for the May 17 primary election and that they are valid.

"I am sorry that this error occurred," Hall said in a statement released by the county. "But once it was discovered, we acted immediately to notify the affected counties and worked through the Secretary of State to resolve this issue."

She added, "None of the election results were adversely affected and the election results in all three counties have been amended."

Clackamas County elections officials said they are looking into how the missing ballots were overlooked.

They also said new, as-yet-unspecified measures are being instituted to prevent future inconsistencies in ballot documentation "and that all ballot boxes are inventoried and counted as they are received."

Hall, reached Friday, said the box on election night was inadvertently placed with a large number of other boxes that had already been emptied of ballots.

"Only when we moved to put them away this week did we realize one was still full," she said. "Thankfully, it was very correctable and it didn't change the outcome of any election. It just changed a few numbers."

It's not the first time, however, Hall's office has made mistakes when it comes to balloting and voting procedures.

In May 2004, for instance, ballots mailed to as many as 300 Sandy voters excluded three annexation questions. Hall later said she learned of the error about 10 days before election, but failed to alert the public or news media.

In March 2009, Hall's office improperly allowed candidates to file for office until 6 p.m. on the deadline day, one hour later than is allowed by state law. About a dozen people interested in public office were determined to have been affected by the error.

One year later, the county's Voters Pamphlet incorrectly published a map illustrating a West Linn ballot measure with an Oregon City measure instead. A ballot insert was needed to notify voters of the error.

The highest-profile incident occurred in November 2012, when a temporary elections worker was accused of filling in ballots for Republican candidates. The worker, Deanna Swenson, was charged with ballot tampering and received 90 days in jail.

Hall, a registered Republican, has been in the non-partisan clerk's job since 2002.

-- Dana Tims

503-294-7647; @DanaTims