Yamhill County Clerk Press Release-20… · Brian Van Bergen Yamhill County Clerk 414 NE Evans St, McMinnville, OR 97128-4607 Ph. 503.434.7518 Fax 503.434.7520 [email protected]

Brian Van Bergen

Yamhill County Clerk

414 NE Evans St, McMinnville, OR 97128-4607 Ph. 503.434.7518 Fax 503.434.7520 [email protected]

Board of Property Tax Appeals Business Licenses Elections Marriage Licenses Passports Recording Voter Registration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Brian Van Bergen Yamhill County Clerk Ph: 503‐434‐7518 Fx: 503‐434‐7520 www.co.yamhill.or.us/clerk [email protected]

Yamhill County Upgrades More Ballot Drop Sites

Six new or improved Ballot Drop Sites before the 2020 General Election

Yamhill County, Oregon – August 31, 2020.

Ballots for the 2020 General Election will be mailed to voters across Yamhill County on October 14, 2020. In advance of this important event, the Yamhill County Clerk is about to upgrade several Ballot Drop Sites. Boxes at the Portland Community College – Newberg Center, Jaquith Park, the cities of Amity and Carlton as well as the County Courthouse will soon be upgraded. The Yamhill County Clerk has teamed up with these local jurisdictions to provide voters greater access to safe and secure Ballot Drop Sites.

Yamhill County voters consistently prefer using official Ballot Drop Sites for returning ballots and we continue to see at least 60% of our voters using our Ballot Drop Sites.

“…provide voters

greater access to safe

and secure Ballot Drop

Sites”

Brian Van Bergen




Portland Community College – Newberg Center The Yamhill County Clerk’s office began

partnering with PCC in 2016 when PCC first allowed our office to locate an official Ballot Drop Site there. It is at the end of the main sidewalk leading from the building’s main entrance to the parking lot. The box is situated for easy access either by car or on foot.

In September of 2020, we will be upgrading this location

with a slightly larger and more secure Ballot Drop Site. It will be in the same spot. It will just look a little different.

Ballot Drop Site moved from Pool to Park A major renovation and reconstruction project transformed Newberg’s Chehalem Aquatic

Center into an award winning, modern and vibrant facility. A key aspect of the reconstruction was the moving of the parking lot where one of our Ballot Drop Sites had been for many years. To facilitate their plans, in 2016 we moved that Ballot Drop Site to Jaquith Park.

The west side of Jaquith Park

has a large parking lot. At the south end of that parking lot is the location of our newly relocated Ballot Drop Site.

Since this is one of our voters’ favorite boxes, we are

replacing it with a larger box. That new box will be in place in September 2020.

Brian Van Bergen




Ballot Drop Site improvements in Amity and Carlton Amity City Library ‐ There was a small automobile accident earlier this year at the Amity

City Library that damaged our Ballot Drop Site at that location. The damage was minor, but the box does need to be removed, sanded and repainted. That repair work will happen this winter after the General Election. To facilitate that work, we are placing a new larger Ballot Drop Site in that location in September.

Carlton City Hall ‐ A similar event happened in Carlton several months ago. We are taking the opportunity now, while we are working on other boxes, to upgrade that location as well.

We will be removing and

repairing the current box at the City of Carlton’s city hall building.

To facilitate that work, like

these other locations, we are placing a new larger Ballot Drop Site in that location in September.

Brian Van Bergen




Accident at County Courthouse Parking Lot – Replacing with Larger Box On August 13th (8/13/2020) a driver hit the Ballot Drop Site

in the courthouse parking lot in McMinnville with their car when backing out of a parking space. The box sustained significant damage.

We will be repairing and

repainting that box, but we will move that to another location after it is repaired. A new larger Ballot Drop Site will be installed in the courthouse parking lot location in early September (before our military and overseas ballots are mailed out to voters).

This new larger box will be just like the box that is located at the Newberg Public Safety

building in Newberg. This box is located exactly where the other box had been for many years – it is much larger.

Brian Van Bergen




Ballot Drop Site improvements at the Clerk’s Office Due to ongoing concerns over social distancing, the Yamhill County Clerk’s office is placing a

new Ballot Drop Site in front of our building. This new box will allow voters to drop off their ballot here at our building (where all Yamhill

County Ballots are tallied and remain after each election), without having to come into our lobby. This new Ballot Drop Site will be on the west side of our building – the Evans Street side.

Ballot Drop Sites, the USPS and other concerns The November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election is right around the corner. Even

though many of the changes and upgrades we are making to our Ballot Drop Sites will help voters, provide improved access, and allow us to handle larger volumes, these changes may raise questions or cause confusion. We understand that, and we are committed to assisting our voters as best we can. If any voter has questions, they should contact us immediately.

Vote‐by‐mail is brand new to many states across the country this year as those elections

officials attempt to help voters during the pandemic. Heightened scrutiny around vote‐by‐mail has caused even some Oregon voters who’ve been enjoying vote‐by‐mail for 20 years to have questions.

There are two tools voters in Yamhill County can utilize to help keep informed of the status of their ballot.

My Vote – The “My Vote” application on the Oregon Secretary of State’s website is a quick,

easy and accessible tool that gives Oregon voters the ability to register to vote, update their registration or simply to check their current registration status. It also shows if their ballot has been accepted for any current election. Top tips for Oregon voters:

1. Check your registration today to confirm that we have your name, address and party affiliation exactly how you want.

2. After you send us your ballot (but well before Election Day), check to see if we have accepted it or not.

Navigate today to: www.oregonvotes.gov/myvote

BallotTrax is a unique tool. It gives each of our voters that sign up for the service, a choice of receiving any combination of a phone call, a text message or e‐mail saying that their ballot has been accepted or if there is a problem with your signature.

Brian Van Bergen




Voters wanting to sign up should do that today at: https://yamhillcounty.ballottrax.net/voter/login#/ Both My Vote and BallotTrax are free for our voters to use. Both are encouraged for every

voter to assist them in making every election a quick, easy and accessible election. Voters with additional questions should reach out to us as early as possible: By mail: Yamhill County Clerk 414 NE Evans Street McMinnville, Oregon 97128‐4607 By e‐mail: [email protected] By phone: 503‐434‐7518 503‐554‐7850 (from Newberg) By fax: 503‐434‐7520 Or online: www.co.yamhill.or.us/clerk www.co.yamhill.or.us/elections

Key dates for voters to know and remember September 18, 2020 Military and overseas voters’ ballots get mailed September 21, 2020 Ballots available for absentee voters October 5, 2020 Out‐of‐state voters’ ballots get mailed October 13, 2020 Last date to register to vote in Oregon for the November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election October 14, 2020 Local voter’s ballots get mailed November 3, 2020 Election Day

Yamhill County Clerk Press Release-20… · Brian Van Bergen Yamhill County Clerk 414 NE Evans St, McMinnville, OR 97128-4607 Ph. 503.434.7518 Fax 503.434.7520 [email protected]

Documents