Clackamas County will delay significant election results until 6 p.m. Wednesday

Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall will release preliminary election results just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, but won’t update tallies again for another 22 hours.

That runs counter to historical precedent and differs significantly from the plans of other county election officials, who indicated they’ll release updated results multiple times on election night.

Hall’s decision to update tallies less frequently than other counties could delay the results of key races including the three-way race for governor, the nationally watched Congressional District 5 race between Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner and Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer and two important races for the Clackamas County Commission, among others.

In contrast, Multnomah County says on its elections website that it will post results at 8 p.m. on election night and update the county’s tallies every two hours through 2 a.m. Tuesday before posting additional updates at 6 p.m. each night.

Dan Forester, Washington County’s election division manager, said he doesn’t yet know exactly when the county will update results Tuesday night but said he’d be surprised if it didn’t update its results at least “three times on election night.”

Counties generally post their first batch of results at about 8 p.m. on election night, with those results generally including ballots submitted through the end of day Monday. Counties then update results throughout election night as they continue to process ballots submitted on Election Day.

We need to get this shit in front of the Supreme Court.

The Congress has already spoken as to the time and duration of the elections:

In 1845, the 28th Congress set a single date for states to appoint presidential electors. In 1792, the 2nd Congress decided presidential electors would vote on the first Wednesday in December, and electors must be chosen in the 34 days leading up to that date.7 More than half of the states in the early 1800s held presidential elections in early November.

As travel and communication methods became faster in the 19th century, potential manipulation and fraud concerns grew due to different election days in different states: “The 34-day period during which elections could be held prolonged excitement and provided time for more intrigue.”

Members of the House, when debating a bill in 1844 that would set a uniform presidential Election Day across the country, declared the goal was “to guard against frauds in the elections of President and Vice President.”

In 1845, the 28th Congress set “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November” as the date for states to appoint presidential electors.11 The first unified presidential Election Day was November 7, 1848.12 Current law states that “the electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President.”

In 1872, the 42nd Congress aligned House elections with presidential elections by scheduling them for “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November” starting in 1876 and “in every second year thereafter.”

Current law states that “the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year, is established as the day for the election, in each of the States and Territories of the United States, of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress commencing on the 3d day of January next thereafter.”

If Congress wants to change the law regarding the time and LENGTH of an election, they may do so. They have not. Any voting extensions (counting included) must be done on ELECTION DAY.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.