Vote and tell your friends to vote

J. Graber

The ads have all been run, the phone calls made, debates had … well at least the only one Chris Dudley would show up for … President Obama even visited town, but one thing still needs to be said in the gubernatorial showdown between Duds and John Kitzhaber.

“The only message left between now and Nov. 2nd is get out and vote,” Kitzhaber campaign spokeswoman Jillian Schoene said Sunday afternoon.

“This is going to be a very tight race, every vote matters,” she said.

The polls have the race a virtual dead heat, which makes it crucial everyone get their ballot in by 8 p.m. Tuesday, but there are plenty of folks who have yet to do just that. Only about 33 percent of Oregon’s registered voters have sent in their ballots as of Friday, according to Secretary of State Kate Brown’s office.

That leaves plenty of voting still to be done. Ballots can still be dropped in the mail as long as they are received in any county election office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Postmarks do not count.

The safer bet at this point is to hand deliver your ballot to a county election office or any official drop box. A complete list of all those locations is available here.

It is fairly common for Oregonians to wait to the last minute to turn in their ballots, but bear in mind last May’s primary only saw a 41 percent turnout. That means every vote cast really does count.

Now, many voters are probably holding on to their ballots until they have done all of their research on the candidates. Unfortunately that has proven harder that expected.

“We are two days before he election and Chris Dudley still can’t give any details on his jobs plan,” Oregon Democratic Party spokeswoman Amy Wojiciki said Sunday.

That’s not the only thing Duds isn’t forthcoming on either. He doesn’t seem to be able explain how he is going to pay for a plan that provides college scholarships, cuts the capital gains tax by three percent and creates a rainy day fund for state government … all without raising taxes or mysteriously pulling another revenue stream out of his sleeve … or maybe, and try this one on for size, how he’s going to learn enough about government financing in the first two months of his term to produce a budget at all.

In the meantime, John Kitzhaber, has set forth a plan that is based on his past experience as both a state legislator and governor and his funding mechanisms, such as making tough budgets cuts to for the state bureaucracy and unifying a single education budget.

So with that in mind, just remember there is only one thing left to say.

“Vote and tell your friends to vote,” Schoene said.

By J. Graber Oct. 31, 2010