Last votes cast in Oregon election linked to armed takeover

BEND, Ore. — Last votes were coming in Tuesday in a recall election for a judge in the sparsely populated Oregon county where armed militants took over a federal wildlife refuge earlier this year.

Judge Steve Grasty, Harney County’s top administrator, faces the special election because he refused to let the militants, led by Nevada rancher Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy, use a county building to hold a meeting. Cliven Bundy was in an armed standoff with federal agents near his home in Bunkerville in 2014.

Supporters of the recall say Grasty violated rights to free speech and freedom of assembly by the militants, who took over the refuge in opposition of federal government overreach.

The vote underscores divisions that remain in the county more than four months after the 41-day occupation ended Feb. 11. However, most signs in a town near the refuge and on ranch fence posts are for Grasty, who plans to retire in December if the referendum fails.

By late Monday afternoon, Harney County Clerk Derrin E. “Dag” Robinson had collected 58 percent of the 4,400 ballots that were sent out.

Voters can cast ballots at drop-off boxes until 8 p.m. Tuesday, at which time the last ballots will all be collected. In Oregon, voters can mail or drop off their ballots. There are no polling stations.

Robinson said Harney County recently got a scanning machine for examining ballots and tallying election results; this election will be the second time it has used the new machine.

He said he is using his own Facebook page to try to boost voter participation. The county lacks a radio station and has only a weekly newspaper.

The headquarters of the 188,000-acre Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 30 miles south of Burns, is still closed, though refuge roads are open. Refuge manager Chad Karges said he expects the headquarters to reopen in late summer or early fall.

At more than 10,000 square miles, Harney County is the largest county in Oregon. With only 7,100 residents, it is also one of the least populated. But the world’s attention was focused on it after the militants, who came from out of state, took over the refuge headquarters in January.

Grasty told The Associated Press recently that he stands by his decision to deny the leader of the militants use of a county building.

“He had already taken over, with firearms, a whole compound of buildings. And (the request) didn’t make sense to me, nor did it fit public policy about public safety,” Grasty said.

More than two dozen occupiers were arrested amid the takeover, and one was shot dead at a roadblock confrontation with law enforcement officers. Several have pleaded guilty to conspiracy in exchange for the dismissal of a charge of firearms possession in a federal facility. Most of the remaining defendants, including Bundy, are scheduled to go to trial Sept. 7.