Reading the Clues From Oregon : Vote- by- mail election is analyzed on several levels in this election year

Jubilant Democrats are pointing to their man’s victory in Oregon’s special senatorial election on Tuesday as evidence of a national repudiation of the Republican Congress’ stance on some issues. Disappointed Republicans say it means no such thing, that the race turned instead primarily on personalities and issues of particular concern to Oregonians.

A postelection telephone poll of voters found that about half saw the balloting as a referendum on the Republicans’ congressional agenda or President Clinton’s policies. That means, of course, that about half didn’t. This split pretty much mirrors the result. House member Ron Wyden got 48% of the vote to become the state’s first Democratic senator in almost 30 years. Gordon Smith, a Republican legislator, got 47%, the balance going to four other candidates. So leave open for now the question of what this election, called to fill the seat vacated when Republican Bob Packwood resigned last year, might presage for the November national elections. Look instead at two other features of the campaign.

This was the nation’s first major vote by mail and surely it is more than a coincidence that voter turnout was the highest in decades, 65.8%. Voting was allowed over a three-week period. Ballots could be either mailed or hand-delivered to special booths. The size of the turnout--well above the 50% or so in recent national elections--and the money the state saved using this method deserve the notice of other states. Americans have been voting by mail, via absentee ballots, for a long time. California should look closely at the benefits of mail voting by everyone.

A second possibly significant turn in Oregon: About three weeks before the end of what had been a fairly nasty campaign, Wyden halted his negative political ads. There’s reason to think voters welcomed that decision. Whatever its effect on the race’s outcome, there’s no question that most voters are increasingly disgusted by campaigning that relies so heavily on personal attacks. Issues and ideas do count with voters. Just maybe, the Oregon vote will encourage greater attention to both in the campaigns that lie ahead.