PORTLAND, Ore. — Voter turnout in both Oregon and Washington rose over the weekend, but both states and most Portland metro area counties are still lagging behind their turnout pace for the previous presidential election. The common trajectory for turnout appears to be somewhere in between the 2020 election's turnout and the lower 2022 midterm turnout, but closer to 2022.
Oregon voter turnout was 46.6% overall as of around 10 a.m. Monday, according to the Elections Division at the Secretary of State's office. For comparison, the state's turnout was at about 73.2% the day before the 2020 election and about 45.2% the day before the 2022 election. Final turnout was 78.5% in 2020 and 66.9% in the 2022.
Washington's turnout was at 56.7% as of just after 5 p.m. Monday. Back in 2020, the state's turnout stood at 73.7% as of the day before the election, and final turnout ended up being 84.1%. The state's final turnout for 2022 was 63.8%.
Clark County leads the pack for turnout among counties in the Portland metro area with 57.2% of ballots returned as of Monday. That compares to 70.4% on the day before the 2020 election and 41% on the day before the 2022 election. The county's final turnout was 85.5% in 2020 and 64% in 2022.
Washington County was next-highest at 47% as of Monday, putting the county's turnout rate closer to 2022 than 2020; the county's turnout stood at 46.6% the day before the 2022 election and its final turnout was 68%. The county stood at 76.7% the day before the 2020 election and the final turnout was 84.8%.
Clackamas County has not updated its turnout report for Monday but it stood at 43.6% as of Sunday afternoon, compared with 49.6% at the same point ahead of the 2022 election and 71.9% two days out from the 2020 election. The county's final turnout was 70.3% in 2022 and 84.7% in 2020.
Clackamas County appears to be the only Portland-area county trending behind its 2022 turnout figures, although it's unclear whether that could be a lingering impact of ballot processing delays that the county faced last week due to a malfunctioning mail sorting machine. The problem has since been fixed.
Multnomah County appears to be in last among the Portland metro area counties with 43.4% voter turnout as of Monday. The county stood at 73.5% turnout the day before the 2020 election and ultimately finished with 81.8%. Turnout was at 41.8% the day before the 2022 election and ultimately finished at 65%.
Turnout among Portland voters is only slightly higher than in Multnomah County overall, standing at 43.6% as of Monday. That figure excludes Portland voters who live in Washington or Clackamas counties, but the vast majority of Portland voters live in Multnomah County. Final turnout in the city was 66.8% in 2022 and 79.7% in 2020.
