Multnomah County Turnout Dropping. Volunteer now.

This just in, from the Multnomah County Democrats.

Now, more than ever, we need you. Voter turnout in Multnomah County began strong, but on Friday it took a downturn. For the first time in days, the number of ballots returned dropped below the level from 2002. As of today we're running 6% -- 10,000 votes -- behind 2002. Oregon needs you now.

What can you do about it? Besides reminding everyone you know (send an email!)...

Come into our office, 232 NE 9th, to contact voters by phone. Come in as soon as possible -- we need you. Phone banks run until 9 pm. tonight and from 9 a.m. to almost 8 p.m. tomorrow.

Come in to canvass and speak with voters at the door. Canvasses run until 7 p.m. tonight and begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Remind people during the morning commute that it's Election Day and that their vote is very important. Join Governor Ted Kulongoski and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden at Pioneer Courthouse Square for an Election Day visibility event. Meet at 8 a.m. at Pioneer Courthouse Square for the visibility event with Ted and Ron.

Call 503-239-8646. E-mail [email protected]. Sign up online. Stop in at 232 NE 9th (between Davis & Everett).

Remember: Multnomah is the bright, blue beating heart of Oregon. If turnout dips in Multnomah County, we can lose statewide.

What are you waiting for?

  • Todd Eastern Oregon (unverified)
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    That is exactly the problem with Oregon we have a large population your county that keeps dictating to the rest of the state how things should be done. Come out to the rural communitees and live for one year and I think your point of view might change. Being blue may not be the best thing for the state of Oregon.

  • Anonymous (unverified)
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    Why would I want to live in biggoted rural Oregon?

    No thanks! I'd rather live in a community that is diverse in every sense of the word.

  • pdxBlue (unverified)
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    Todd: When rural Oregon decides to stop accepting the subsidies to education and critical services that come from Multnomah County - i.e. the tax dollars of Multnomah County voters - to the tune of several hundred million dollars per year, then you can complain about our outsized influence on Oregon politics. Until then, you vote, we'll vote, and we'll see how the chips fall...

  • (Show?)
    Posted by: Todd Eastern Oregon | Nov 6, 2006 4:29:11 PM

    Yeah, because we should give large tracts of empty land the vote, not people. I have nothing against rural areas or the people in them per se, though I think you ought to actually grasp the concept that if large cities are where most of the people live, of course it will weigh heavily on electoral politics.

    I would also suggest that you might actually visit and live in large urban areas for a year and your change your point of view as well. You might actually come into contact with and find out that gays and non-white people are just like other people, some great people, some bad, some just average (just like any other group of people) and are not the boogyman often portrayed in rural areas and deserve the same rights under the law and same opportunities as everyone else.

  • jrw (unverified)
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    Todd:

    Better think twice before you throw mud at us Portland folks. A lot of us started out in rural counties in both Eastern and Western Oregon.

    I've almost reached the point where I've lived as long in Portland as I did in rural Western Oregon and in Eastern Oregon. Actually, I will hit that point in February, when I moved to Portland from Enterprise, in 1982.

    I know I'm not the only rural exile here in PDXville.

  • Chris (unverified)
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    Fair play (and a good, incredibly sane point) to illuminate the fact that population centers will wield greater influence.

    Little disappointed to see how we've twisted Todd's words to imply that he doesn't appreciate diversity or is plagued by a host of phobias simply because he lives in them red places.

    All the same, lestatdelc, I always enjoy reading your comments.

  • Max (unverified)
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    Why would I want to live in biggoted rural Oregon?

    No thanks! I'd rather live in a community that is diverse in every sense of the word.

    The bigots seem to be concentrated in the urban centers, where you "celebrate diversity" - i.e., you make a point of recognizing and playing up differences. A far cry from Dr. Martin Luther King's vision of a society in which people are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

    You, anonymouse 446, appear to be at the least hypocritical, and at worst, purely venomous.

    No, that was not a mis-spelling. People who try to hide behind "anonymous" labels simply reveal themselves as venial, scurrying little rodents.

  • Daaaaave (unverified)
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    Thanks for the tips on how to be tolerant, Lon Mabon.

  • (Show?)

    OK, guys... this is definitely NOT a post about racial diversity, Martin Luther King Jr, etc. It's about voter turnout in Multnomah County.

  • MaxRedline (unverified)
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    Sorry, Kari; point taken.

    I was reading an article a bit ago in which it was noted that as of Saturday, Democrat returns are outpacing Republican returns in Oregon; a situation that was ascribed to Republican depression over the war in Iraq, congressional scandal, and Bush's popularity ratings.

    <h2>I live in Multnomah County, and I vote in every election. What some of the pundits don't seem to understand is that many of us don't particularly like vote-by-mail. As a result, we take advantage of all available information before casting our votes and then dropping them off.</h2>
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