PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon's 2024 Primary Election will be held Tuesday, May 21, which means state residents have about seven weeks left to register to vote, change their party affiliation or fix any other issues with their voter registration. The deadline is April 30 — any changes made after that won't take effect in time for the May primary.
Oregon has generally positioned itself at the forefront of efforts to make voting easier, including by embracing all-mail ballots and automatic voter registration through the DMV, but there's a notable exception to that pattern: the state does not allow same-day voter registration, an omission that stems from a specific incident.
Voters must register at least 21 days before an election. After that, the registration will still go through, but the voter won't receive a ballot until the following election.
The same goes for the party affiliation, which is especially important ahead of a primary election; if a voter wants to switch parties but waits until after April 30 to do it, they'll receive their previous party's ballot in May and won't be able to change it. Oregon has completely closed primaries for partisan positions, meaning only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary and only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary.
Register to vote or make updates
Registration in Oregon can be done entirely online through the Oregon Secretary of State's website. Registrants must be U.S. citizens, Oregon residents and at least 16 years old. Minors who register won't start receiving ballots until the the first election after they turn 18.
Clicking the link on the website takes users to a form where they'll need to fill out their name, date of birth and Oregon DMV number from their driver's license, permit or state ID card, along with the address where they want to receive their ballot in the mail.
Oregonians who don't have a state license or ID can can still use the system to fill out their voter registration form, but they'll have to print it out, sign it and turn it in at a county elections office. There are also blank registration forms available online and at most libraries and post offices.
Oregon voters who want to double-check their registration status or update their information can do so online through the My Vote tool. Users just need to enter their first and last name and date of birth to see their current voter registration status, party affiliation and the address where their next ballot will be mailed.
The system will also display a link to start the update process for voters who need to update their address or change their party affiliation.
Filling out ballots
Ballots will start being mailed out to voters with Oregon addresses on May 1 (military, overseas and out-of-state ballots will be sent sooner), and the last of them must be sent by May 7, according to the state's Elections Calendar. Most voters should also expect to receive a copy of the state voters' pamphlet ahead of their ballot.
Portland voters should note that, unlike in past election years, their primary election ballots will not include the mayoral race or any city council races. The city previously elected its mayor and commissioners through a runoff system where all of the candidates would appear on the primary election ballot and the top two finishers would face off in November unless one candidate got more than 50% of the vote.
Portland is switching to a new form of government in January 2025, which includes electing a new mayor and an all-new city council in November. But the new system will use ranked-choice voting, which means there is no primary election and all candidates for each race will appear on the general election ballot.
Ballots can be filled out and submitted at any time either by mailing them back or by dropping them in one of Oregon's ballot drop boxes. An online drop box locator tool will be available starting 20 days before the election. Voters can track the status of their submitted ballots through MyVote.
Ballots must be postmarked or submitted to a drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day, May 21, in order to be counted. Ballots returned by mail will still be counted if they're received up to seven days after Election Day, but only if they're postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Mail does not get postmarked until it gets picked up and processed, so if it's 7:30 p.m. on May 21 and you still haven't submitted your ballot, at that point it's probably safer to look for a drop box than a mailbox.