Oregon Public Broadcasting

Northwest elections officials have their work cut out for them this November. As April Baer reports, close races and high turnout are expected in both Oregon and Washington.

The secretaries of state from Salem and Olympia say they're hoping for lots of early-bird voters.

They'd like to avoid problems like the counts and recounts that plagued the last Washington Governor's race.

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed notes both states set voter registration records this year.

Sam Reed: "We have cleaned up our records like we've never seen, getting deceased and felons and duplicates off our rolls. So for us to still break the record really indicated the kind of participation I think we're going to get."

Washington has drawn fire from a think-tank that says the state isn't doing enough to prevent underage teens, and incarcerated felons from voting.

One lawsuit is still pending.

Reed and Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury say they're confident voting will be conducted according to law, but they ask that voters send in ballots as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side.