Lane County voters will have four new ballot drop boxes to use in this November’s election. Three are traditional ballot boxes, but one will be a “smart” drop box.
The smart drop box scans the barcode on the outside of the ballot return envelope, logging the time and location ballots are returned. This drop box is the first of its kind in Oregon, and it is being tested at the Lane County Public Service Building.
Lane County Clerk Tommy Gong said logging ballots where they are returned adds a new layer of security if they are tampered with while in the drop box. He said if something like a fire happened to a smart ballot box, the county would know exactly which voters were affected.
“We could actually follow up with the voter and issue them replacement ballots,” Gong said.
The three new traditional ballot boxes will be located at River Road Water & Fire Protection District, the Mapleton Fire District, and McKenzie Fire & Rescue in Leaburg.
According to Gong, these drop boxes were placed at locations that will reduce travel time to ballot boxes for as many Lane County residents as possible.
“So now I think we'll have everything down under a 15 minute drive for all voters within our county,” Gong said.
The new drop boxes were paid for with emergency funding that was approved in September by the Joint Emergency Board of the Oregon Legislature. Secretary of State Tobias Read requested funding for 20 new ballot drop boxes across Oregon, and the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office distributed funds to counties across the state.
These four new ballot boxes are not included on the list of official drop boxes sent with each ballot, because their location was not confirmed in time to be included in the printed material that’s included in the ballot mailing.
All Lane County drop boxes will be ready to accept ballots starting Oct. 15. The deadline to vote is Nov. 3.
