Sign for ballot drop box
Rebecca Galloway / OPB
A box of missing ballots from last month’s election turned up in Clackamas County this week – uncounted, but unaltered, according to officials.
They say the 341 found ballots didn’t change the outcome of any races.
Clackamas County announced Thursday night that the ballot box was found during a “final inventory of election equipment.”
Some of the ballots were from Multnomah and Washington counties. The Secretary of State’s office confirms that the three counties affected had to adjust their election totals – just hours before the deadline to certify the May primary results.
Clackamas County’s elected clerk, Sherry Hall, said she was sorry about the error.
“I am sorry that this error occurred. But once it was discovered, we acted immediately to notify the affected counties and worked through the Secretary of State to resolve this issue,” Hall said. “None of the election results were adversely affected, and the election results in all three counties have been amended.”
County officials say they’re investigating what happened, but the working theory is that the box was placed in the wrong location, rather than any intentional wrongdoing.
An elections worker in Clackamas County had to serve jail time for tampering with ballots in 2012.
