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COUNTY PARTICIPATES IN STATEWIDE MEASURE 53 RECOUNT MONDAY

Beginning Monday, June 16 the Clatsop County Elections Department will take part in the statewide recount of ballots for the narrow vote over Ballot Measure 53.

The final statewide tally from the May 20 primary election found Yes votes outnumbering No votes by only 550, well within the limit of one-fifth of 1 percent difference required by law to trigger an automatic recount.

Elections office staff will officially break the seals on the county’s ballots at 10 a.m. June 16 at the Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Exchange St., Astoria. Two four-member teams of election workers will hand-count each of the approximately 12,500 ballots cast by Clatsop County voters, according to Acting County Clerk Cathie Schurman. The recount is expected to last two days or more, she said.

Measure 53 would modify Oregon’s civil forfeiture laws to allow exceptions to the current rules, which restrict how governments can seize money and property from crime suspects.

Although historically Oregonians are leery about government confiscations of property it was surprising that so many voted against a ballot measure that had no organized opposition or campaigning.

The state was divided on the issue, leaving many were very confused as to who was for it and who was against it. For instance on April 30th Willamette Weekly’s editorial stated that the ACLU endorsed the ballot measure. David Fidanque, with ACLU, quickly wrote and corrected WW, stating that ACLU was neutral on 53.

Measure 53 would remove the prohibition against using forfeited property for law enforcement purposes. And it would allow forfeiture of property connected to crimes that are similar to the crime for which a person is convicted. However, it also allows confiscation and forfeiture of all money found on the property (i.e. if someone is renting a room to a border, or has an adult child living at home, who is convicted of a drug crime all money on the premise could be forfeited).

In Clatsop County the final count was 5194 YES and 5526 NO.

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