PORTLAND – The deadline for Oregonians to register to vote is two weeks away, so the chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, Meredith Wood Smith, took to the streets Tuesday to sign up as many voters as possible.

“It’s the feet on the street that make the difference,” Wood Smith said, clutching a clipboard of voter registration cards in Pioneer Square in Portland. “There is an opportunity this year to get people involved.”
Wood Smith was registering first-time voters, as well as people who had to update their registration information. Because all of Oregon’s voting is done by mail, residents tend to forget to re-register when they move.

In the May primary, Democratic candidates down the ticket expressed great concern that Oregonians voted in the presidential race, and failed to make downballot selections. But Wood Smith said she expected that voting in local races would improve dramatically in November, thanks to increasing interest in Oregon’s extremely close U.S. Senate race. In recent weeks, the battle between Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) and U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) has tightened to a dead heat.

“We’re feeling excited about Jeff Merkley,” Wood Smith said.

That interest is filtering further down to local races, where Wood Smith said that there was a decent chance that Oregon House Democrats could win the additional five seats necessary to obtain a “super majority” status of 36 seats. Wood Smith said that Democratic candidates Suzanne VanOrman in the 52nd House District and Judy Stigler in 54th district appeared to be looking like good pick-up opportunities for the Democrats, as well as four other seats that could be in play.

The closeness of the presidential, U.S. Senate, and Oregon state House races is why Wood Smith said that it was imperative for Oregonians to vote this cycle because with gas prices remaining high and with the economy in a state of crisis. A failure on the part of voters to get their voices heard could result in more harm for the country, she said.

“I just got back from Harney and Klamath counties, and there’s an anxiety out there. Rural health care is in crisis in this country, and with gas prices so high, that lessens people’s access to health care,” Wood Smith said. “If Oregonians don’t register to vote for change, we’ll just get more of the same. More of McCain, Bush and Smith’s endless war. More of a legislative agenda scripted by President Bush and powerful special interests and carried out by John McCain and Gordon Smith. More of the economic policies that have left too many out of work, and too few in their homes.”