Clerk Prepures For Oregon Vote

Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election began mailing to Oregon residents on Oct. 14.

Tillamook County Clerk Christy Nyseth spent that day ensuring the physical infrastructure for voting was ready. Her office manages ten drop box locations across the county, including one in Bay City.

The drop boxes are locked blue metal units situated near local landmarks such as City Hall and the library. Only deputized staff hold the keys to these containers. Nyseth unlocked the Bay City box to confirm it was open for ballot returns.

Her office operates a new ballot sorter installed in May. The machine scans barcodes and signatures on voter envelopes. It sorts the mail into the county’s 29 precincts. The system retrieves voter registration data to verify signatures match.

Nyseth’s team updated the database with 800 new signatures in the weeks before the election. They plan to run these updates every morning as Election Day approaches. The sorter processes ballots in half the time required by manual methods.

The clerk’s office handles voter records, elections, marriage licenses, passports, and property transactions. Nyseth compares the workload to wearing many hats. She serves as the county’s top election official and record keeper.

Election workers will open ballot envelopes starting Oct. 28. Teams of two, each with bipartisan representation, will prepare ballots for the tabulator. Election observers will monitor the process via livestream in a separate area.

Nyseth anticipates working from 7 a.m. until 3 or 4 a.m. on Election Day. The shift continues until the final ballot processes and results upload to the state site. Staff members order food and bring snacks, including a traditional candy bowl, to sustain the long night.

The clerk holds monthly Coffee with a Clerk events to engage the public. She also conducted town halls in Tillamook, Manzanita, and Pacific City. These events aim to clarify election procedures and address misinformation about vote counting.

Nyseth notes that Tillamook County has many rural and unincorporated communities. Outreach in different locations helps reduce public anxiety. She is a member of the Oregon Association of County Clerks, where officials share advice on administrative challenges.

The clerk grew up in Tillamook and attended Tillamook High School. She previously worked at a local cheese company and a sausage factory. She met her husband at the sausage factory when they were teenagers.

Nyseth says the hardest part of the job is facing questions about her integrity from those unfamiliar with her work. She emphasizes that clerks follow state law and administrative rules. She hopes voters view the office as a source of trusted information.