Elections, Politics, Washington County

Washington County voters close gap between statewide and county average ballot returns

A freshly painted ballot drop box in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley

Washington County voters have turned in 151,231 ballots as of Monday morning, representing 39.2% of eligible voters.

Statewide, the office of the Oregon Secretary of State updated totals at 8:50 a.m. Monday, October 26 to show that turnout in Oregon sits at 1,188,824 ballots returned out of the nearly 2.95 million eligible voters, for a total turnout of 40.3% thus far. 

Broken down by the four largest registered voting groups, Washington County has 148,764 eligible Democrats, of which 76,633 have voted so far for a total turnout of 51.51%; 129,363 non-affiliated voters, of which 34,534 have voted, for a turnout of 26.7%, 83,816 Republicans; of which 31,474 have voted for a turnout of 37.55%, and 16,959 Independents, of which 6,510 have voted for a turnout of 38.39%. 

Those who have turned in a ballot and are seeking to find out if it has been received by the county elections department should visit Oregonvotes.gov to check the status of their ballot, though it can take between 48 and 72 hours from when a ballot is dropped off at a ballot box — perhaps longer for ballots mailed — to appear in the system.

The recommended deadline to mail a completed ballot through the United States Postal Service is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27, and all ballots mailed must be received before 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Oregon does not accept ballots that are received after that time.

After Oct. 27, ballots should be dropped off at one of the county’s 21 official ballot drop sites or delivered directly to the Washington County Elections office before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3.

The Washington County Elections office is located at 2925 NE Aloclek Drive, Suite 170, Hillsboro, OR 97124-7523.

Washington County’s 21 ballot drop sites will close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, with early results announced by the Oregon Secretary of State’s office shortly after. 

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Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.

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