Crook County will not issue a supplemental mailer to voters after two statements supporting the Greater Idaho movement were inadvertently omitted from the state Voters’ Pamphlet for the May 21 primary election by Crook County Clerk Cheryl Seely.

Seely did not include the statements when adding Crook County information about Measure 7-86 that is included in the state pamphlet. Seely said it was not intentional.

“I hope everybody realizes that mistakes, sadly, happen,” Seely said. “I feel terrible about this one, but we’re doing the best we can to remedy the situation with the advice of the county council, the Secretary of State’s Office and the county commissioners.”

The two statements were submitted before the deadline by Mike McCarter, president of Move Oregon’s Border, and Matt McCaw, Powell Butte resident and executive director of the Greater Idaho movement. Both supported Measure 7-86, an advisory question that asks voters if Crook County should “represent that its citizens support efforts to move the Idaho state border to include Crook County.”

While Seely took full responsibility for the omission — and is actively trying to remedy the situation with public outreach — McCaw was “disappointed” by the Crook County Commission’s decision last week to remedy the omission only in ways that will not cost the county money.

“Mistakes happen,” McCaw told The Bulletin. “Crook County made a mistake, but they still have a chance to remedy that mistake. They’re choosing not to, and they’re citing cost as the reason. That’s not acceptable.”

Seely told The Bulletin that a supplemental mailer would cost the county $8,000 to issue. It is also impossible, she said, for the state to issue a revised version of the voter pamphlet because all election booklets produced by the Oregon Secretary of State prohibit new, revised or supplemental editions.

Measure 7-86 arguments and impact

Seely and McCaw said it’s unclear how the situation will impact the primary. Typically, Crook County has a voter turnout of 40%, Seely said, and Measure 7-86 was the only measure that qualified for arguments in the voter pamphlet.

Read More: Everything that’s appearing on the May 21 primary election ballot in Central Oregon

Including the two omitted submissions, the county received 13 arguments for Measure 7-86; four were in favor, and nine were against. Those in favor largely hinge their arguments on Crook County’s demographics, residents who they say would feel more accurately represented by Idaho’s largely conservative Legislature rather than Oregon’s largely democratic Legislature.

Arguments against Measure 7-86 cite the negative social and economic impacts on residents, such a change would have, and several chose to convey their ire in measure arguments by stating they chose to live in Oregon and not Idaho for a reason.

All submissions can be read online at Crook County’s website.

In any case, the measure is nonbinding and nonlegislative, meaning it will not compel any action by the county regardless of the outcome of the vote. Should the measure pass, it simply means voters support elected officials telling state and federal officials that Crook County residents support negotiations to relocate the Oregon-Idaho border.

“The people that can actually make the border change happen are our state legislators. At the county level, commissioners can’t do anything to move the border, but what they can do is they could find out (if their) citizens want our elected leaders to pursue this,” said McCaw.