Secretary of State: 6 ballots were tampered with in Clackamas County
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Investigators have found six ballots that were potentially altered by an elections worker in Clackamas County, but the full extent of the alleged ballot tampering was still under investigation, Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown said late Tuesday.
The six ballots will be counted if the original voter's intent can be determined, Brown said in a statement. Her spokeswoman, Andrea Cantu-Schomus, said all other ballots will be counted normally.
Campaign operatives watching tight races that could determine control of the Oregon House had the investigation on their minds.
Melissa Unger, who heads Democrats' efforts to win a House majority, said they were concerned. Officials have said the worker is suspected of marking Republican candidates on races the voter left blank.
"We just don't know the scope of the problem yet," she said. "Until we find that out, I think it will be difficult for people to feel comfortable with the results coming out of Clackamas County."
State officials have refused to release more details about the investigation, including how many ballots might have been handled by the worker, whom officials have identified as Deanna Swensen, of Oregon City. She has not been charged.
Jeff Manning, spokesman for Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, said he couldn't provide details about the investigation or when authorities might be able to release more information.
"There's clearly a lot of angst in Clackamas County," he said. "It's really bad timing, and I can understand there is high anxiety."
County counsel Stephen Madkour said the investigation appeared to be wrapping up, but it would be some time before any conclusions were made public.
Madkour said the alleged tampering was reported last Wednesday by another elections worker sitting at the same table with Swensen processing ballots. The allegation was that Swensen was using a pencil to fill in blanks on ballots that had been filled out in pen.
Clackamas County Republican Chairman John Lee said no races are going to be so close that they could be determined by the small number of ballots identified in the investigation so far.
But Unger said Democrats are keeping an eye on three tight House races that include voters in Clackamas County — districts 37, 40 and 51.
"All three seats would be on anyone's top 10 targeted districts that will decide the majority in the entire state," she said.
Clackamas County Democratic Chairman Larry Skidmore said the election for Clackamas County Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Lehan was also very close.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Secretary Brown Statement on the Status of Clackamas County Ballot Fraud Investigation
Salem, Ore- Secretary of State Kate Brown today issued the statement below to provide an update of the investigation in Clackamas County and to correct information that reportedly was shared at yesterday’s emergency commission meeting in Clackamas County.
To date, Clackamas County, under supervision of my elections monitors, has identified six ballots that were potentially altered by the accused temporary county elections employee. The total number of ballots potentially affected is still under investigation by the Department of Justice.
For all potentially altered ballots, Clackamas County elections officials will determine whether or not the original voter intent can be established.
If the original voter intent can be established, the ballot will be counted to reflect what the original voter marked.
Voter intent will be determined by Clackamas County officials, but will be overseen by my two elections monitors, Brenda Bayes and Fred Neal who bring a combined 30 years of election experience.
This is different information than was reported in the media yesterday. Media reported that Clackamas County officials shared that all potentially altered ballots would not be counted. This was inaccurate.
Have they pressed charges against this right-wing extremist yet? I'd like a followup, this woman violated our constitution. In some countries she'd be facing death over something like this.
My concerns are much larger: She has been working at the polling station since 2000!Â
#: How many other ballots over these intervening years has she tampered with?
#: Who taught her / showed her / gave her the idea / looked the other way all these years?
#: It was PREMEDITATED. She took the pencil in with her... it was HER OWN pencil, showing intent
#: When confronted by WW she LIED ... claiming it was only 2 ballots, when we now know it was greater.
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I vote Jail and loss of voting rights, for life.
I would like everyone to stop commenting negativley if they donot know the full story.
 @dfreak TOO LATE: She brought this on herself. She deserves all the divisive ink (or in this case: pencil) that comes her way ... she is the one who took it upon herself to attempt to violate our constitution. She should have done her homework in civics class.
As a Clackamas County voter I want to know WHY this woman has not been arrested?
It doesn't matter which political party this person is affiliated with, it's a sad state of affairs when someone gets so hyped up about their beliefs that they lose track of what democracy is all about. Â It seems there are zealots in everything. Â Blechhh. Â I hope she is feeling humiliation and shame.
 @Sundowner i would guess that this woman's mental state is in a tailspin. She went from being an unknown person to one whose name and photo are going to be splashed all over print media and the internet. And not in a good way but as a villain. i would bet she is not only humiliated by her new-found notoriety but that she is totally scare about her future, including criminal prosecution and some possible jail time.
 @Michael L.  @Sundowner MY guess this is not the first election she has done this.
 @Michael L. And she should be.  One would ask, "What was she thinking?", but then I guess she wasn't.Â
 @Sundowner  i again agree with you - she surely wasn't thinking if other election workers who were not in on it with her were sitting at the same table! Maybe she was thinking they wouldn't turn her in even if they saw her take pencil to ballot. But this woman has essentially ruined her life.
Listen everybody out there. This thread just started so i have a suggestion. We can all read senseless, hateful comments on Yahoo.com articles if we want to. Let's elevate the level of discussion on this board to thoughtful and articulate, non-partisan, non-political comments.Â
Jail, jail, jail. She tarnished on the virtures that holds this country together.
I would like to know what charges WILL be filed against her.
She should go to jail. That is a complete abuse of trust and power. Shame on her!
Wondering why they printed her name unless they were sure she did it - and if thats the case, why she hasn't been charged?
 @Gozirra Izroose i have no doubt but that they will charge this woman once they know the full extent of what she did, meaning the number of ballots she tampered with, so the authorities know how many counts they can charge her with. There really is no rush for the authorities to charge and arrest her. So be patient!
Yesterday it was 3. Today it's 6. Why not just make it an even 12, or even 20 just to be sure.
 @Jamie They CAUGHT her doing two or three.  They then had to look at all of the ballots that she'd had on her desk (which, as the article says, they know because of the bar code).  She was only a part time worker, and the day was young.  She hadn't done much yet ... except ruin her own life.  Pretty sure she just lost her own right to ever vote again.
 @Jamie This is a totally inane comment. What's your point?
 @Michael L. They need to actually determine how many ballots had been tampered with and not continue to update the number on a daily basis. That is my point.
 @Jamie Jamie, in that case i agree with you. i thought you intended something else by your comment. i agree the powers-to-be don't need to give us a daily update, mostly because they should have a final tally within the next few days. i believe the powers-to-be were trying to let the public know, especially just before today's national election, that it was a small number of ballots that were tampered with and not hundreds. i could be wrong about their intent, but this is my educated guess. i would bet that the authorities are going to be finished with their investigation soon, as the woman alleged to have tampered with the ballots has most likely "lawyered up" by now.
Perhaps the ballots require a box marked "No selection."
 @Altazi Perhaps but that doesn't do much (if anything) to deter this kind of electoral fraud. Even with a "none of the above" type of choice, someone intent on electoral fraud could still fill in another bubble thus creating an "overvote" which voids the vote for that specific office or measure.
 @mikew   milew, i believe that this type of ballot tampering by an election worker is extremely rare. i believe that 99.99% of election workers are very honest, law abiding people who would never think for a single moment to do what this bad apple is alleged to have done. Indeed, i have never heard of it happening before in any of the various locations i have lived nor have i heard about any such incident in any news article i have read. It very well may have happened elsewhere but i do not believe it is a widespread problem. i trust election workers, especially volunteers, far more than i do people in some occupational areas, such as politics, law enforcement, the legal profession, etc.
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Having a "None of the Above" option may not stop an election worker who is intent on tampering with a ballot from doing so, but it lets it be known, officially, that a voter is unhappy with the nominated candidates, and doesn't want to vote for the lesser of two evils. In fact, if the "None of the Above" votes beats the respective votes for each of the listed candidates, maybe they should have a special election with all new candidates, in which the previous listed candidates could not run.
 @Altazi i have always preferred "None of the Above".