One Day Until 26-48
Coincidental with my mention yesterday of the visit from a supporter of Measure 26-48, there's this article in today's Oregonian about that very weekend canvassing campaign:
Mike Rosen checked his clipboard Sunday afternoon and squinted at the house number. This must be the place.
His 5-year-old daughter, Emma, waves a placard around her head and near his knees: "Yes on 26-48." They approach.
Rosen was among 1,600 volunteers who went door-to-door during the weekend to get out the vote for Multnomah County Measure 26-48.
Note to self: Next time something like this is going on (and it was a known effort prior to the fact), wake up and find the local contact so that I can follow him for part their route and report on it here.
Meanwhile, there's another look at the school board race, its many slates, and voting returns thus far:
Three months ago, school advocates were begging people to apply for the job: an unpaid seat on Portland's embattled school board.
Then on the filing deadline, candidates stacked up. In the past two weeks, the money rolled in, capped by Nike founder Phil Knight's $50,000 donation this month to a slate of four candidates.
Two-thirds of the 246,000 registered voters in the Portland School District had not voted by Friday, Multnomah County elections officials said. At stake is control of the seven-member school board, which oversees 53,000 students enrolled in the state's largest district.
And KATU has more on turnout being low to date:
Tomorrow is election day, and voters in several counties face serious choices regarding public schools. Already, low voter turnout in Multnomah and Washington counties threatens school funding measures in Portland and Beaverton.
There was not much activity at drive-by ballot drop sites outside Multnomah County election headquarters in downtown Portland Monday morning. Volunteers who have collected ballots for the county in recent years told KATU News that today's ballot traffic was slow for the eve of an election.
As of Friday afternoon, the latest ballot count showed turnout in Multnomah County just below 38- percent, far short of the turnout elections officials projected.
Two-thirds! Time for the reminder: Fill out your ballots, get them to a drop site, and don't forget to vote yes on Measure 26-48. You have just under 32 hours.