Oregon Voters Given Chance to Select Packwood Successor

Oregon voters will select Sen. Bob Packwood’s replacement in the nation’s first congressional election to be held by mail.

The primary will be held Dec. 5 and the general election Jan. 30, Gov. John Kitzhaber announced Thursday. The winner will be sworn in Feb. 2.

Kitzhaber had the option of calling a primary election or allowing the parties to select their nominees, a process that would have been faster.

“But, ultimately, I believe that in this instance, with as much as three years remaining in Sen. Packwood’s term, the value of giving Oregonians the chance to vote in the primary election outweighs the 45 to 60 days we would save by not having a primary,” said Kitzhaber, a Democrat.

Packwood announced Sept. 7 that he would resign over charges of sexual and official misconduct.

Oregon has been conducting local elections by mail since 1981.

Some Democrats and Republicans alike had complained that a strict vote-by-mail system would open the door to fraud. Backers of the idea argued that mail voting saves money.

The state’s election law allows the secretary of state to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to hold an election by mail. Both Secretary of State Phil Keisling and the governor supported it for the Senate election because, they said, it would be cheaper than setting up polling places.

Democratic Rep. Ron Wyden, one of the candidates for Packwood’s seat, supported holding a primary to select the nominees.

“There is a risk that if we don’t involve the people of Oregon in this decision, then the cynicism and feeling of disenfranchisement that has occurred as a result of the Packwood matter will unfortunately continue,” Wyden spokesman Josh Kardon said.

But another Democratic contender, Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, said the seat needs to be filled quickly. “To stretch this election out to next year is going to put the state at tremendous risk,” he said.

Ballots will be mailed to registered voters about three weeks before the primary and the general election. The ballots must be at the local election offices by Election Day, and returns will be released that day.