PORTLAND, Ore. — Voter turnout in Oregon saw a big uptick in the final day to return ballots. Despite, overall lagging behind the turnout seen in the previous presidential election. Though with return ballots still able to come in after Election Day, if postmarked by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, today's numbers may not be final.
Oregon vs. Washington voter turnout
Oregon voter turnout was 56% overall as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Elections Division at the Secretary of State's office. For comparison, the state's turnout on Election Day in 2020 was around 78.5% turnout. That year saw a surge in early voting due to the pandemic, which could explain the difference.
To compare, on Election Day in 2016, a non-pandemic year, turnout was around 80.3%. The introduction of ranked-choice voting in Portland could also explain the difference. It's the first year, Portland has ranked-choice voting for the city council and mayoral races. And this year, there are more than 100 candidates in those races combined. Many Portlanders have said that is taking them longer to cast their vote this year.
In Washington, voter turnout data is published after 5 p.m. each day. As of Nov. 4, turnout was at 56.7% for the state. In the day ahead of the election in 2020, Washington's voter turnout stood at 73.2% and at 78.7% in total for the 2016 election.
Portland Metro county-by-county voter turnout
As 1 p.m. on Nov. 5, Clark County's voter turnout is the highest among counties in the Portland metro with 57.1% ballots returned. That compares to 85.4% returned on Election Day in 2020. To note, Washington does allow same-day voter registration on Election Day, while Oregon requires voters to register 21-days before.
Voter turnout in Multnomah County rebounded in the final day to return ballots with 54.8% received, as of 2:14 p.m. on Tuesday. To compare, turnout for the 22020 General Election stood at 81.8% ballots returned on Election Day.
Washington County's voter turnout was the next with 53.6% as of 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Which so far lags behind the turnout seen in the 2020 General Election on Election Day, with 84.3% ballots returned.
Voter turnout in Clackamas County lags behind other Portland metro counties, with 50.7% ballots received as of Tuesday. It's unclear whether that is due to a mechanical problem that delayed ballot processing in the week leading up to the election. The problem has since been fixed.
How to watch local election results
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