The Josephine County Clerk's Office was reporting a low turnout for the May 21st primary election.
On Friday evening, the Clerk's Office reported that only 13,366 out of 69,909 registered voters -- or 19.12% -- had returned their ballots. Out of the 13,366 ballots received, 12,815 had been accepted.
Tuesday's primary election in Josephine County features a total of eight candidates running for two positions on the Board of Commissioners, a ballot measure that would replace the Josephine County Charter, a local option tax to financially support the Josephine County Animal Shelter, and a bond levy to improve safety and security in aging Three Rivers School District buildings.
The ballot deadline for the election is Tuesday at 8 p.m.. Completed ballots can be mailed in or hand-delivered to designated drop sites before the deadline. However, due to recent delivery delay issues with the US Postal Service, election officials recommend dropping ballots off at designated sites before the deadline.
The Postal Service now sends all mail from Josephine and Jackson counties to Portland for processing before returning it to addresses in Southern Oregon. It's possible that ballots mailed in tomorrow may not receive the all-important May 21st postmark.
