County clerk details May primary preparations, ballot timeline and new election dashboard
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Summary
County Clerk Carrie Hinton told the Board of Commissioners the office is preparing for a likely higher turnout in the May primary, outlined ballot mailing and drop‑box dates, additional security and training, and said a public election dashboard and an April 27 logic‑and‑accuracy test will make ballot processing more transparent.
County Clerk Carrie Hinton briefed the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners on preparations for the May primary, saying the county has 78,508 active registered voters and is expecting higher turnout because a measure was moved to the May ballot. "As of this morning, we have 78,508 active registered voters," Hinton said, urging residents to note registration deadlines.
Hinton said the clerk's office is scheduling extra observer and staff training and adding security layers around election operations, citing an uptick in threats to election offices. She outlined the ballot timeline: military and overseas ballots were mailed to voters last week; out‑of‑state ballots will be mailed April 20; the main mailing of ballots and opening of county drop sites will begin April 29. The office will hold its public logic and accuracy (L&A) test on April 27 at 9 a.m., she said.
The clerk also announced an election dashboard scheduled to go live at the end of the month that will track daily ballot activity, including returned ballots and the number of ballots challenged for signature reasons and subsequently cured. "We now are able to report the ones that we actually are able to cure or resolve," Hinton said, describing new state reporting tools that allow the office to show how many signature challenges are resolved.
Hinton told the board the clerk's office is continuing the property recording alert service (more than 900 signups) and that staff are monitoring a rise in deed‑and‑notary fraud. She said the office has reported notary issues to the state and has logged several recent cases. The clerk also noted a veterans ID program and ongoing digitization of older records.
Board members thanked Hinton and asked follow‑up questions about the cost of voters' pamphlets, audit procedures and the mechanics of curing ballots. Hinton explained counties fund local voters' pamphlet production and described participation in statewide audits and pilot risk‑limiting audits. She said ballots can be cured at any time before the statutory curing deadline (three weeks after the election) and that voters who receive a deficiency letter can respond immediately to cure their ballot.
Hinton said she will return in two weeks to present her office budget. The L&A test, dashboard launch and continued outreach are the next procedural steps the clerk identified.
