Melissa Lindsay

HEPPNER — Morrow County voters appear to have recalled Commissioners Jim Doherty and Melissa Lindsay, but the results are unofficial and could change.

The latest update from the election Tuesday, Nov. 29, has 1,319 votes to oust Doherty to 1,169 to keep him in office. Results are closer for Lindsay, with 1,248 in favor of recalling her to 1,237 against, a difference of 11 votes.

But with Oregon’s new law to count ballots post marked by election day along with ballots facing a challenge, Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers said the races are too close to call.

The county mailed a total of 7,027 ballots for the election, she said, and the turnout so far is 35.6%. Childers said there are enough challenge ballots — ballots the clerk’s office challenges, for example, because of a signature issue — to make a difference in the Lindsay election. And her office has to wait seven days for post-marked ballots to arrive.

“I don’t know what’s coming in the mail in seven days,” she said. “I have no idea.”

Commissioners express thoughts following early resultsLate at night Nov. 29, after the first results were public, Doherty said he was disappointed. Although he was not ready to concede, he said but expected to lose the election.

“It’s not subject to change much,” he said of the election numbers. “Frankly, I think it will hold.”

He blamed his loss on his openness, his unwillingness to act more “like a politician.”

Doherty said he will uphold his “sworn duty” to serve as commissioner until a recall is certified.

“I’m still going to continue to lean in for the people,” he said.

If he is to lose, he said, he has no thoughts for his life after leaving office.

“I’m still going to stand up for the marginalized, the minorities,” he said. “There’s no place in this world for homophobia or racism or, frankly, environmental injustice.”

Doherty added that Morrow County is experiencing a “coming of age,” and he’ll continue to fight that fight.

“Eventually, the pendulum will swing this way,” he said.

Lindsay, whose term is over Jan. 3, expressed surprise at an initial one vote lead she had to stay in office.

“It just goes to show the political landscape,” she said. “Everyone’s very split on what they think and what they support.”

By the end of the night, new results put her behind.

Cases for and againstEach ballot included arguments for and against recall.

People behind the recall of Doherty accused him of such things as lacking transparency, acting in secret and demoralizing county employees.

Similar accusations were made against Lindsay. The arguments against her included statements that she had intimidated county employees and that she refused to listen to her community.

In their statements, also printed on the ballots, Doherty and Lindsay argued against the accusations. Each commissioner said they had worked in the best interest of their constituents.

This fight, for and against recall, extended throughout the county. One sign hung on a Boardman ambulance that blamed the two commissioners for the reason why that ambulance could not be used.

Meanwhile, several letters to local newspapers weighed in on the race.

As this was taking place, the one other board member, Commissioner Don Russell, said he didn’t want to state his own opinion on the election. Voters would be the ones to decide, he said.

What happens next?Childers published an anticipated schedule for the upcoming days on the county’s website. She said the next time her office counts ballots is Dec. 6 after 5 p.m. Then on Dec. 21, 22 days after the election, she will certify the results.

Childers said that action will determine Doherty’s and Lindsay’s fate on the county board.

“Whichever way it goes,” she said. “If they stay, they stay. If they go, they go.”