Residents raise questions about QR codes on ballots and election procedures during public comment

Several speakers used the May 6 public comment periods to raise concerns about elections and ballot integrity, including unique QR codes on ballots and the feasibility of hand‑counted elections.

At the morning public communication period, resident Brenda Buratti and Sandra Nelson delivered brief comments on civic participation and prayer. Later in the meeting, Jill Latray (resident) urged compliance with federal guidance and read portions of an executive order about voting system guidance. Latray noted that ballots in her household contain a unique QR code and asked a series of questions she said had not been answered by the elections office: who generates the QR code, what information it contains, who can read it, and whether the QR code undermines ballot secrecy. She referenced Oregon statutes that protect ballot confidentiality and asked the county for answers and, implicitly, potential policy changes to ensure ballot anonymity.

Roger Law, another resident, described a hand‑count exercise conducted by volunteers and a county staff observer during the King City recall and argued that hand counting can be accurate and provide same‑day results. Law compared U.S. practices to last week's Canadian federal election, which uses paper ballots counted by hand in precincts.

An additional speaker, Callie Peters, offered a broader civic remark about truth and democratic norms, referencing an excerpt from Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny.

Clerk Moss noted the public comment but no county elections official provided a substantive response during the meeting transcript. The comments were recorded for the public record. Residents asked for clarification about the QR codes and for the county to address concerns about ballot anonymity and election procedures.