With the 2024 general election already underway, student voters may be looking for answers about the voting process in Oregon and who is who on their ballot. The Daily Emerald is providing a detailed voter election guide to help create a more informed electorate.
Whether voters are putting their ballot in the mail (no postage required) or an Official Ballot Drop, all ballots being mailed must be postmarked by Nov. 5, or put in an official drop box by 8 p.m. on the same day.
Once the ballots are received, the county elections office counts each one.
Dena Dawson, the Lane County Clerk, has been working in county elections offices for 18 years and is responsible for overseeing the election locally. She said voters are already submitting their ballots early in anticipation of the upcoming presidential election.
“In presidential elections you expect 85% to 90% turnout in Oregon. We are expecting a very high turnout and we are seeing that,” Dawson said. “[Monday] is the first day that we’re collecting ballots from drop boxes and our drivers and bipartisan teams have been back from their routes already and returning lots of ballots.”
Key races and candidates in Eugene
Congress member Val Hoyle of the Fourth Congressional seat is running for reelection, opposed by Republican candidate Monique DeSpain, Libertarian candidate Dan Bahlen and Green Party candidate Justin Filip.
Kaarin Knudson, who had previously won the primary election in May, is running unopposed for mayor of Eugene. City council candidates include Eliza Kashinsky for Ward 1, Matthew Keating for Ward 2, Lyndsie Leech for Ward 7 and Randy Groves for Ward 8.
The candidates for the Eugene Water & Electric Board include Tim Morris for Wards 1 and 8, John Barofsky for Wards 2 and 3 and Sonya Carlson for Wards 6 and 7.
Running for the Oregon House District 12 representative seat is Democratic candidate Michelle Emmons and Republican candidate Darin Harbick. The 12th District covers Eastern Lane County and most of the rural Lane County cities.
Incumbent Democratic Representative John Lively is running against Republican candidate Cory Burket to represent Oregon’s 7th House District, which covers parts of Eugene and Springfield.
Democrat Lisa Fragala is running unopposed for Oregon House District 8, which includes much of Eugene and the University of Oregon.
With key races on the ballot for Eugene voters, some shared their thoughts and concerns about election season.
Acacia Grant, a Eugene resident, said that her biggest concern for the upcoming election was the misinformation voters could consume online.
“People don’t even know which sources are the right sources,” Grant said. “There’s such a culture of seeing different things, whether you’re on TikTok like me or on Facebook. No matter which way it goes I think it’s easy to internalize what you see online without fact-checking.”
Lisa McElroy, an artist and vendor at the Eugene Saturday Market, said that the upcoming election was “a little unnerving.”
“My fingers are crossed that it goes the way I want it to go,” McElroy said. “I think one might win and the other one’s going to cause a little chaos. That’s my feeling.”
Eugene & Lane County voter demographics
Voter demographics are determined by the race, age, sex and background of voters, among other attributes. According to the Pew Research Center, in adults 18-29, voter registration is typically lower than those older than them.
Low registration counts within the younger generation may be attributed to an absence of information, struggling to plan ahead to vote, family, voter apathy and other personal reasons that may inhibit voter turnout.
In Eugene, 119,679 people are registered to vote. Of these, 53,972 voters are registered Democrats, 39,895 voters are non-affiliated voters and 17,375 voters are registered Republicans.
Non-affiliated voters are registered voters who are not a part of a political party.
This is not the same as Independent voters, who are registered with the Independent Party of Oregon.
In a research study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 21% of Democrats were adults 18-29– standing at a lower percentage than those older than them. The same age group made up just 15% of Republican voters.
According to Lane County Elections, 279,008 people are registered to vote in Lane County. Out of that number, 101,611 voters are registered Democrats and 60,711 are registered Republicans. The remaining 96,472 people are NAVs.
In recent presidential elections, Oregonians have voted in favor of Democratic candidates.
Population centers in Oregon, like Portland and Eugene, are heavily correlated to Democratic votes. Outside of these centers, however, much of the state tends to lean Republican – this can be best attributed to the Emerald’s map showing the vast majority of Oregon voted red in its 2022 Governor race.
According to Dawson, understanding voter demographics is crucial when considering how political campaigns address concerns and when deciding which groups of people they try to contact during election season. Dawson added that it’s important to Lane County Elections that their office is as transparent as possible and that voters have access to the right information in order to make an informed decision on who to vote for.
“Part of our radical transparency is making sure that we’re answering the questions before people have them,” Dawson said. “I think the most important thing for people to know is to start with our website. If the answer to the question you have isn’t there, contact us. That’s our goal, it’s to answer any questions and to rebuild trust in the process.”