Ballot sorting slows in Oregon county due to machine malfunctions

A machine used in an Oregon county to sort and vet ballots recently jammed, resulting in a ballot processing slowdown, according to reports. 

The issue has occurred before, according to officials in Clackamas County, and comes as many ballots arrive before the presidential election next week. 

“The crux of the issue is that we are getting jams that make it difficult to process a large volume of ballots at any one time,” County Clerk Catherine McMullen said, according to local media.

“We are taking proactive measures to fix this and also working through the process to continue processing ballots even without the mail ballot sorter actively functioning," she continued.

McMullen said the goal is to have most of the ballots counted by Nov. 8. As of Thursday, about 83,000 ballots have been processed but there are still over 50,000 to go. 

“We still know that we will be done with the majority of ballots by the end of the week after Election Day, just through a different process,” she said.