Oregon Statutes 545.163 – Procedures for conducting election by mail
(1) An irrigation district may conduct a district election by mail. The board of directors of the district shall designate by resolution, not later than the 50th day before any election, that an election will be conducted by mail.
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 545.163
- board of directors: means the governing body of a district. See Oregon Statutes 545.002
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- District: means an irrigation district organized or operating under this chapter. See Oregon Statutes 545.002
- elector: includes every person 18 years of age or older, whether a resident of the district or state or not, who is an owner or a vendee under a contract of purchase of land situated within the district and subject to the charges or assessments of the district. See Oregon Statutes 545.002
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Person: includes individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
- United States: includes territories, outlying possessions and the District of Columbia. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
(2) At an election by mail held for the purpose of electing a person to the board of directors, the qualifications for a director are those set forth in ORS § 545.043.
(3) An election by mail shall be conducted within the district or divisions within a district according to, as nearly as is practicable, the general provisions of ORS § 545.137, 545.139, 545.141, 545.145, 545.149 and 545.153. However, the judges of election appointed under ORS § 545.137 (2) are not required to be in attendance until after 8 p.m. on the day of the election.
(4) The secretary of the board of directors for the district shall mail an official ballot with a return identification envelope and a secrecy envelope to an elector, not sooner than the 20th day before the date of the election to be conducted by mail and not later than the 14th day before the election. The secretary shall cause to be placed in or on each return identification envelope a statement to be completed by the elector that says that the elector, under penalty of perjury, swears and affirms that the elector is the sole elector authorized to cast the ballot. In addition, the secretary shall verify that, according to the records of the district as of the 21st day before the election, the elector is entitled to vote.
(5) When a ballot is mailed to a corporate landowner, a person authorized to act in a representative capacity or landowners under multiple ownership, the secretary shall enclose voting instructions advising the elector that the voting rights of electors for corporate, representative or multiple ownerships are as described in ORS § 545.002.
(6) The secretary of the board of directors may not mail voting materials to an elector who actually acquires ownership of land within the district after the 21st day before the date of an election. When an elector has acquired ownership of land within the district after the 21st day before the date of an election, the secretary shall make voting materials available, and the elector may vote, only at the district office or at another place designated by the board.
(7) When the elector is an elector described in subsection (6) of this section, the secretary of the board of directors shall, before making voting materials available, require that the elector file with the district a copy of a recorded deed or a memorandum of contract demonstrating the acquisition of land by the elector within the district. The secretary shall then allow the elector to mark the ballot, sign the return identification envelope and return the ballot in the return identification envelope to the secretary.
(8) An elector may obtain a replacement ballot if the original ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received by the elector. The secretary shall keep a record of each replacement ballot provided to an elector. An elector may obtain a replacement ballot and may vote at the district office or another place within the district designated by the board of directors on the actual date of the election, during the hours designated in ORS § 545.139.
(9) Until the time for the close of the polls, an elector may obtain a replacement ballot from the secretary of the board of directors, at a place designated by the board, if the original ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received by the elector.
(10) When an elector receives vote by mail materials, the elector shall comply with all written instructions provided, mark the ballot, sign both the return identification envelope and the sworn statement of entitlement to vote and return the marked ballot to the district by placing the ballot in the return identification envelope and either depositing the envelope in the United States mail or delivering the sealed envelope to the district office or another place designated by the district.
(11) A completed ballot must be received by the district, at the proper place designated by the district, no later than 8 p.m. on the day of the election.
(12) A ballot shall be counted only if:
(a) The ballot was returned in the sealed return identification envelope provided by the district;
(b) The elector signed the return identification envelope; and
(c) The secretary of the board of directors has verified the name of the elector and the elector’s ownership of land within the district.
(13) Using the records of the district, the secretary shall verify the name and land ownership of each elector. If the secretary determines that an elector to whom a replacement ballot has been issued has voted more than once, the secretary may not count any ballot cast by that elector. [Formerly 545.045; 1999 c.452 § 16; 2005 c.127 § 1; 2007 c.154 § 66; 2019 c.638 § 5]
(Electoral Districts)