Lars Larson: Clackamas Clerk should resign

By Lars Larson,
NW and national radio host

Friday, I told you that the elected Clackamas County Clerk should submit her resignation over the gigantic election failure on May 17th.

Over the weekend, even the very liberal Daily Dead Fishwrapper agreed with me.

It’s hard to imagine a public official screwing up so badly, then refusing offers of help to fix the problem, finally admitting she can’t even guarantee results by the legal June 13th deadline…and all of it without even offering an apology.

If remorseless government failure needs a poster girl, it’s Sherry Hall.

She ordered ballots from a private company that screwed up badly, and Sherry Hall and her staff missed it.

They tested voting machines which Americans already have good reason to distrust but didn’t test the actual ballots voters were sent.

She knew about the problem two weeks before the election and failed to act.

Her mistake will probably cost at least tens of thousands of dollars…maybe hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of workers are now doing overtime shifts daily.

Hall told reporters on Friday she will deliver a timeline to the Secretary of State by today but then in the same breath confessed she won’t stand by that timeline.

I think the very least Clackamas Commissioners and the secretary of state can do is demand Hall quit…and replace her with someone who can get the job done.