PORTLAND, Ore. — County election offices in both Oregon and Washington are already processing ballots as the November election quickly approaches.
"Definitely the busy part of the election process," Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said.
In Washington, Clark County inspection boards are made up of county employees, Kimsey adding that some election workers have processed ballots for decades. Observers, from both the Republican and Democrat parties, stand by watching.
As of Friday morning, Clark County is reporting 46.5% of voters have returned their ballots, slightly above the overall turnout in Washington state which sits at 43.6%. That falls short of where the state was around this time in 2020, with 53.3% voter turnout, Kimsey said. In 2020, there was a surge in early voting due to the pandemic, which could explain the difference. Compared to a non-pandemic election year, Washington's voter turnout in 2016 stood around 34.6% around this time.
On Friday morning, Oregon released updated voter turnout numbers, putting the state average at 38%. According to John Horvick, senior vice president of DHM Research, that's well below where the state was Nov. 1 before the election in 2020, when Oregon turnout was 67%. It's also below the Nov. 1 average for Oregon from 2000 to 2016 of 44%.
WASHINGTON VOTER TURNOUT
As of Nov. 1
- 2024: 43.6%
- 2020: 53.3%
- 2016: 34.6%
OREGON VOTER TURNOUT
As of Nov. 1
- 2024: 38%
- 2020: 67%
- 2000-2016 average: 44%
Currently, voter turnout in Multnomah County trails behind Oregon's overall at 30.8% as does Clackamas County, reporting 26.1% of voters have returned their ballots. Clackamas County clarified Thursday that due to a mechanical issue with a mail sorting machine, there's been a delay in processing incoming ballots. As of Friday morning, the machine is back up and running.
Curry, Wheeler, Wallowa, Sherman and Grant counties are all far above Oregon's average, reporting over 50%. Washington County says about 38.8% of ballots have been returned.
"So, we have already a lot of ballots back," said Dan Forester, Washington County election's manager.
How ballots are counted
When ballots are processed in Washington County, the first stop is a mail sorter that uses a signature verification software. Anything that is not an exact match is looked at by a person who verifies the signature, Forestor said.
The same occurs in Clark County, though every ballot is checked by a human.
"Every single signature on every single ballot affidavit is reviewed by a human who's been trained by the Washington state patrol," Kimsey said.
In both Oregon and Washington, the return envelope is separated from the ballot, ensuring every vote is anonymous. Then, the ballots are scanned.
"The requirement is that no one knows results until Election Day," Kimsey said.
And that goes for Oregon as well.
"We don't see the results until the 8 o'clock deadline on Election Day," Forestor said.