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QuickTake:
The League of Women Voters of Lane County has compiled information about candidates and measures in the May 20 election at one website, Vote411.org.
Nancy Mills, the voter service chair of the League of Women Voters of Lane County, has a theory about why most voters don’t return ballots in off-year elections like the one coming up May 20.
These elections feature races for local school boards, rural fire department districts and similar posts, along with an occasional ballot measure. So they potentially have big impacts locally. But most voters shrug when the ballots hit their mailboxes: In the May 2023 election, fewer than 1 in 3 voters (31.68%) in Lane County returned a ballot — and that was higher than elections in 2019 and 2021.
Mills’ theory: It can be hard in off-year elections for voters to find information about the local candidates and issues — and with less information, “they have less of an incentive to vote,” she said.
The League of Women Voters has a solution: Vote411, its digital voter guide (Vote411.org), offers information league volunteers have gathered about candidates and ballot measures.
The website allows voters to enter their addresses to learn which races and issues will be on their ballots.
League volunteers send questionnaires to candidates, and the website posts their answers, allowing side-by-side comparisons.
Most candidates respond to the questions from the nonpartisan league, Mills said: “We contact them and tell them that this is free advertising and that it might look funny if they don’t respond.”
If a candidate doesn’t respond, the site says so with no additional comment.
With ballot measures (this year, Lane County has four), the board does some additional homework, Mills said.
“What we do is we take the ballot language measure and we interpret it in language that people can understand,” she said.
“We give background,” she said. “Where does this measure come from? What is the history? What is the need? We talk about the consequences if the measure passes, and the consequences if it fails.”
The website also lists arguments for and against bond measures from supporters and opponents.
Lately, Mills said, the league has been creating video versions of its measure explanations for the Vote411 site. “I am not a professional” at the video explanations, she said. “And so it looks like I’m not a professional.”
Nevertheless, she said, the video versions have increased traffic to the site. “Some people like to be told rather than read stuff, and if it’s all in one place, then it’s easier for them.”
And that’s the entire goal of the Vote411 site.
“The League of Women Voters is all about voter education,” Mills said. “With Vote411, the information you get is tailored to your ballot. … You are getting exactly what you need, but nothing else.”
About the May 20 election
The deadline for ballots is 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 20. Ballots postmarked by that date will be accepted up to a week after the election. Ballot boxes now are open in locations around the county until 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 20.
