Clackamas County Voting Deadline Is May 19

By Daniel Crawford

Clackamas County residents will be voting on state/local issues, including a re-match for the District 52 House of Representatives seat between Incumbent Republican Jeff Helfrich and 2024 runner-up Democrat Nick Walden Poublon.  The deadline to vote is Tuesday, May 19.

Helfrich is seeking his third consecutive term for the District 52 seat. In 2022 Helfrich took over the seat when he defeated Darcy Long. In 2024, Helfrich squared off against Poublon in a close battle separated by only a 3.7% margin.  Poublon will challenge Helfrich again, hoping to flip the seat.

In November 2017, Helfrich briefly took over the District 52 seat after four-term incumbent Mark Johnson left office when he was appointed CEO of Oregon Business and Industry. Helfrich lost a bid for re-election twice to Anna Williams in 2018 and 2020.

Voters will decide on two bills introduced to congress.  Measure 3-634 was proposed by the Sandy Fire Board to replace a temporary contract and annex with the Clackamas Fire District. The current temporary contract began in 2021 and will be effective until 2030. 

A "yes” vote will annex the Sandy Fire Department into the Clackamas Fire District that serves the Sandy, Eagle Creek, Boring, and Damascus residents. Property owners would see a .22 cent increase per $1,000 assessed home value. For calculation purposes, an average home costing $263,000 would see a $4.90 per month increase.

A “no” vote will maintain the current contract until 2030 with no increase to property taxes. 

Measure  3-633 is a vote to renew vital source funding for law enforcement and to maintain 30 deputies who serve at the jail, 84 jail beds, 26 mental health jail beds, five detectives, a drug-enforcement team, body-worn cameras and two internal affairs investigators.  

Voters’ consistent approval of this levy since 2006 indicates public safety is a high priority here. In 2006, the cost per year for the owner of an average home was about $50, going up to about $66 in 2016 and $98 in 2021 as home values rose. Approval of Measure 3-633 is estimated to cost about $191 for the owner of an average home, now valued at $358,313.

A ‘yes’ vote will secure a five-year levy through 2032 to keep Clackamas County the safest county in Oregon. The current levy contract expires on December 31, 2026.  

A ‘no’ vote will affect resource cost-cutting and very likely a lay-off of staff across the board.

Clackamas County mail-in ballots began distribution on April 29.  If you have not received your ballot by May 7, contact Clackamas County Elections for assistance.  Their phone number is (503) 655-8510 and email is  elections@clackamas.us.

Mail-in ballots are always postage-free. You may choose to drop off your ballot at several locations in the area.All locations feature drive-up access.

Here are a few ballot box locations:

Boring - The Clackamas County Bank

Damascus - The Damascus Square

Estacada - City Hall and Estacada Public Library

Sandy - City Hall and Sandy Public Library

Welches - Hoodland Public Library

There is a Track Your Ballot option available on the Clackamas County website.  You can sign up for alerts to your phone or your email address.  The tracking will keep you informed on the travel of your ballot from arrival to departure.