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When ballot measure 9-148 was approved, it did away with partisan primary elections, said County Clerk Steve Dennison.

Now, the county clerk is required to place all eligible candidates, regardless of political party, on the ballot, and no political affiliation will be listed on the ballot. The top two vote-getters in the primary will have a run-off in November elections.

“Internally, it’s pretty straightforward … Our voter registration system tracks what contests are partisan and which ones aren’t,� said Dennison. “Where it will make a difference in how we conduct an election is that now, rather than just the Republicans and Democrats seeing the commissioner race in a primary, all voters will see it.�

For Dennison’s perspective, this change drastically changes the number of voters who are able to cast a vote for county commission candidates. Of the 159,000 registered voters in Deschutes County, more than 55,000 aren’t affiliated with a political party, meaning 55,000 more voters have a say in the primary.

Dennison said the most radical change in the May county commissioner primary is that any candidate who receives more than 51% of the vote is automatically elected to the position.

This comes into play mainly if there are only two candidates running for a position, he said, which at this point in time, is the case.

The only county commission seat up for election in 2024 is Position #2. Incumbent Phil Chang and challengers Samuel Facey, Rob Imhoff and Judy Trego have filed the appropriate paperwork and other candidates have stated their intention to run for the seat. The last day for candidates to file for office is March 12.

No party affiliation will appear next to either of Chang’s or Facey’s names on the ballot. While the candidates are allowed to disclose that information to their voters and may campaign in conjunction with a political party, no indication of partisan preference will appear on official election materials.

A nonpartisan election may not be the only change headed to the county commission. This year, John Heylin, from Represent Deschutes, is leading a petition drive to increase the number of commissioners from three to five.

“It’s a pretty simple ballot measure. There were three commissioners, now there will be five. We’re simply adding two people to the commission just to make it function better as a government entity,â€� Heylin told The ÅÝֱܽ²¥.

While there is an argument to expand the commission simply based on the growing population of Deschutes County, Heylin is motivated more by the notion of creating a better balance of power among the commissioners.

“To make a quorum with the three person model, you only need two,� Heylin said. “That means that two commissioners can basically do whatever they want, and the third one has to sit by the wayside. I think by having five it allows for more permutations and combinations of people to be able to come to a better decision.�

Heylin and other advocates of expanding the Deschutes County Commission have two years to obtain 6,681 legitimate signatures to get the measure on a ballot. But there are always people who put down the wrong date or use a different signature, Heylin said, so realistically they are aiming for 8,000 signatures.

The ballot measure proposed by Represent Deschutes likely won’t reach the ballot in May, and even if it does, the results will have no impact on the race for county commission Position #2. For any additional hypothetical commission seats, candidates will need to wait until the next scheduled filing period in 2026.

“It couldn’t be a scenario where they come in today with all the signatures and we review them, they can go to the ballot and then we open up a filing period for these new positions. It can’t move forward to November because (candidates didn’t file) in May,� said Dennison.

For those in favor of adding two seats to the county commission, Represent Deschutes’ proposal can be found on its , along with instructions on how to mail in your signature. Otherwise, Heylin said unpaid volunteers will be posted outside of his Downtown Bar, Unofficial Logging Co., every Monday.