The movement to expand Idaho’s borders to include parts of eastern Oregon secured another win in eastern Oregon Tuesday by a mere seven votes.
The 50.1% to 49.9% split in Wallowa County will require its commissioners to discuss merging with Idaho and won’t trigger a recount, an elections official in Wallowa County confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The final vote count stood at 1,752 people for Measure 32-007, which will require that commissioners “meet twice annually to discuss promoting Wallowa County interest in relocating Idaho borders to include Wallowa County,” versus 1,745 people against it.
Wallowa County Clerk Sandy Lathrop said the measure missed the requirement for a mandatory recount by just one vote. A recount is required by Oregon law when the winning margin is less than or equal to .2%, which is 6.994 votes in this instance. The state does not round up, she said, so seven votes wasn’t small enough to force a recount.
Lathrop also said six contested ballots were not cured before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline.
Wallowa County is now the 12th eastern Oregon county to approve a measure in support of the long-shot effort to merge Oregon’s typically conservative counties with the Gem State.
Proponents of the movement believe eastern Oregon is more culturally and politically aligned with Idaho, and that relocating the border to include those counties will address rural Oregonian’s concerns of feeling neglected by the more populated and left-leaning western Oregon counties. Relocating the border would require approval from both the Idaho and Oregon legislatures, as well as U.S. Congress.
— Nick Gibson; ngibson@oregonian.com; 971-393-8259; @newsynicholas
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