PORTLAND, Ore. — One day after Election Day, Oregon's voter turnout rate was hovering around 57%, according to preliminary data from the Oregon Secretary of State's office. That number is likely to increase in coming days as more ballots are counted, and as more arrive at elections offices in the mail. In Oregon, ballots are accepted up to seven days after Election Day, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 56.88% of ballots had been counted from registered voters in Oregon. Washington's voter turnout was 52.67%, with 798,865 ballots still to be counted.
The Northwest has historically had among the highest voter turnout in the nation during presidential election years. The University of Florida Election Lab ranked Oregon at number three for turnout in the 2020 presidential election, behind Minnesota and Colorado. The Election Lab compares the number of ballots counted versus the number of people eligible to vote in the state. Washington was number four.
Comparing the number of ballots returned with the number of registered voters, the 2020 election saw a turnout rate in Oregon of 82%. In 2016, 80.3% of registered Oregon voters sent in their ballot.
As in past years, Oregon's rural counties have some of the highest turnout in the state. Grant, Gilliam, Sherman, Wallowa and Benton counties each have had turnout higher than 77%.
But it was tiny Wheeler County, with just 1,034 registered voters, that was leading the state for voter turnout on Wednesday afternoon. 878 ballots had been counted, putting Wheeler at 84.91% voter turnout. While it's undoubtedly faster to count less than a thousand ballots compared to the tens and hundreds of ballots in other counties, Wheeler had the highest turnout in the state in 2020, with 90.2% of voters turning in ballots, compared with 82.2% in Multnomah County and 84.8% in Washington County in 2020.
"Voters in Wheeler County seem to take their right to vote very seriously. It gives me pride to know our citizens care," Wheeler County Clerk Brenda Snow Potter told KGW in 2022, when the county again took the top spot in Oregon.
The more urban counties, with far more ballots to count, hovered between 36% and 52% turnout on Wednesday afternoon. According to the Secretary of State's office, Multnomah County had 48.53% of ballots counted for registered voters — or 279,888 out of 576,703.
Multnomah County's Elections Dashboard uses a different methodology to report turnout, counting ballots returned rather than ballots counted. As of Wednesday afternoon, the county reported 396,528 ballots returned, for a turnout of 68.37%. The county is projecting a voter turnout of 80.38%, which would be on par with recent presidential elections. In 2020, the county had a voter turnout of 82.2%, and in 2016, it was 80.5%.
Washington County is also reporting ballots received rather than officially counted, for a turnout Wednesday afternoon of 66.88%.
The official voter turnout results will be finalized when the vote is certified.
