Yamhill County Conducts Routine Ballot Audit

By Rebecca Wallis

McMinnville, OR – June 17, 2024 (Updated June 18th, 2024)

Yamhill County conducted its routine ballot audit on June 17, focusing on the Commissioner Race and the Democratic Treasurer race from the May 21, 2024 Primary. The audit, a standard procedure comprising 3% of the votes cast, involved a meticulous hand count to ensure accuracy and integrity in the election process.

Commissioner Kit Johnston humorously likened the observation process to “watching paint dry,” highlighting the thorough yet monotonous nature of the audit. The state randomly selected contests and batches from each of the 36 counties for the hand count audit, with Yamhill County pulling eight batches to meet the 3% requirement.

Yamhill County Clerk, Keri Hinton, expressed confidence in the process, stating, “It should go pretty smoothly,” and noted that only minor housekeeping items remained to officially close the election. She clarified that an election hand count differs from the state-mandated audit of 3% of votes. “An automatic hand count of the election is only triggered when the top vote-getter is within 1/5 of 1% of the runner-up,” Hinton explained, citing past examples in Newberg and Lafayette where such counts did not change the outcomes.

A total of 15 observers attended the hand count, including Yamhill County Commissioner Candidate David “Bubba” King. There was concern in the observation room as King initially refused to sign the Observer Policy and Agreement, delaying until 10:28 a.m., despite the audit starting at 9:00 a.m. King cited ongoing inquiries by his team as the reason for the delay, mentioning he had issues with parts of the agreement. A tense conversation between King and another observer didn’t persuade King to sign the agreement. Shortly after Commissioner Kit Johnston entered and signed an agreement, King signed.

Observers faced space limitations and stringent security protocols, restricted to an observation room with four CCTV feeds and no audio to protect privacy. Hinton noted that this method is also used in Clackamas, Benton, and Multnomah Counties with Klamath using government television live streaming of the camera room they use for elections. “It allows people to have further trust in our voting system to ensure the machines behaved appropriately like we expected, with a thorough process to ensure safety and transparency,” Hinton remarked, emphasizing the safety and bipartisan nature of the process. “We have all bipartisan teams, no one around the table was the same party. Colored badges identify them,” she added.

Regarding the collection of signed Observer Policies and Agreements, Hinton stated, “We typically ask for it upfront or before in an email. We could ask court security to remove people who don’t want to sign. We need to know who’s here. Due to the security protocol, people must sign in.”

In total, 12 people from the Yamhill County Republican Party, one from the media, one Yamhill County Primary Election Candidate, and a Yamhill County Commissioner were present to observe the hand count. The audit results will be transmitted to the Oregon Secretary of State.

Photo Credit Richjem-stock.adobe.com