The Lincoln County Clerk’s office beginning Tuesday will hand count more than 14,000 ballots cast in the Nov. 4 special election for the property tax levy funding the county’s veterans services department.
The recount will begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and continue until 4:30 p.m. with counting resuming at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and continuing until completed, according to a Lincoln County press release. There will be an observation area in the hallway of the second floor of the courthouse where people who wish to watch the recount process can see it on a large-screen monitor.
Oregon law requires an automatic hand recount when the vote difference in an election is less than 0.2 percent. The final, unofficial results Nov. 25 after five rounds of counting had the levy winning by 15 votes — 7,029 to 7,014 – a margin triggering the recount.
The levy results had been changing since the first results were released Nov. 4. It was originally losing by 97 votes, which then narrowed to 34 votes on Nov. 5 and then still losing by 15 votes Nov. 7. The fourth round of results Nov.12 showed it passing by 20 votes.
If it passes, the levy will collect 3.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for five years starting in 2026. That translates to $10.50 a year for property assessed at $300,000.
