Woodland residents will have to wait a little bit longer before receiving their voters’ pamphlets for the Aug. 5 primary election.
While most Clark County residents received their pamphlets in the mail earlier this month, 937 voting households near Woodland did not.
The number includes all Clark County households that fall within Woodland’s ZIP code, both inside city limits and in unincorporated areas. Although the majority of Woodland is in Cowlitz County, a small sliver is in Clark County.
The county’s election department, overseen by the Auditor’s Office, has taken steps to deliver the pamphlets to the affected residents.
After processing the pamphlets at the Portland Main Post Office, Clark County Elections Supervisor Cathie Garber drove the pamphlets to Woodland’s post office Wednesday to mail them. The Auditor’s Office is using extra copies of the voters’ pamphlet it had lying around the office.
Complaints arise
County Auditor Greg Kimsey said there were a couple of reasons for the oversight.
“(The pamphlet) was mailed relatively early this year,” he said. “And it was relatively thin.”
He said the error occurred at the front end of the printing process, and the pamphlets that were supposed to go to Woodland ZIP codes were never sent.
It came to light only after several Woodland residents complained that they had received their ballots but not their voters’ pamphlets. The Auditor’s Office looked into the matter and discovered that no pamphlets had been delivered to Woodland’s ZIP code.
Though voters’ pamphlets on occasion never make their way to people’s homes — and the Auditor’s Office has a number to call if that happens — Kimsey said he was not aware of hundreds of pamphlets disappearing in the past.
Woodland residents should have their pamphlets as early as today. Some started appearing in P.O. boxes Wednesday.
Woodland resident Pam Myhr said she was disappointed her household hadn’t received a pamphlet yet. A former county employee, Myhr said she stays on top of local issues, but she worries about other people in the community who may be less informed and rely on the pamphlet for candidate information.
“I feel like people should get the voters’ pamphlet to know the candidates,” Myhr said, adding that she had already voted.
Her husband, however, has not voted yet and will rely on the pamphlet as opposed to Myhr’s knowledge, she said, giving assurance that she doesn’t “tell him how to vote.”
People who have not received a voters’ pamphlet can call the Auditor’s Office to request one. The number is 360-397-2345.
