PORTLAND, Ore. — Election Day is Nov. 5, about seven weeks away, but Oregon and Washington voters can expect to see voters' pamphlets and ballots arriving in their mailboxes a few weeks sooner than that, thanks to the two states' all-mail voting systems.
Now is the time for residents to get registered to vote or update their registration, and Oregon voters in particular need to be mindful of an early deadline: Oct. 15 is the last day to register or update your registration in order to vote in the 2024 election. Any changes must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on that date.
Washington has same-day voter registration, meaning voters can register or change their information all the way up through 8 p.m. on Election Day and still cast a ballot. But Oregon imposes a 21-day deadline ahead of each election; any registrations or changes made after that cutoff won't take effect until the next election (and yes, there's a reason for that policy).
How to register
Oregon and Washington both have online voter registration systems that can be accessed through the Oregon Secretary of State's website and the VoteWA website, respectively. You must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years old to receive a ballot, although both states allow residents to pre-register starting at age 16.
Both systems require you to enter your name, date of birth and driver license number to confirm you're a resident of the state. You can still register even if you don't have a driver's license, but you'll have to complete the process in person at a county elections office. You can also download blank Oregon or Washington forms to fill out and submit at an office in person or send by mail.
For people who are already registered, the online systems also allow you to double-check your information or make changes such as updating your mailing address. Note that Washington requires online registration or changes to be made at least eight days before Election Day — Oct. 28 in this case. You can still register after that, but it must be done in person.
When do ballots arrive?
Oregon ballots will be mailed out starting Oct. 16, the day after the registration deadline closes. The last of them must be sent out by Oct. 22, which is also the deadline to get county voters' pamphlets sent out. Washington ballots will start going out on Oct. 18.
The hard deadline to return ballots in both states is 8 p.m. on Election Day — the same time that polls close in states that don't use all-mail voting. All ballots must be postmarked or turned in at a drop box by that time in order to be counted. Washington's online map of drop box locations is already available, and Oregon's map will go live on Oct. 16.
Both states will still accept and count ballots that arrive in the mail after Election Day, but only if they were postmarked before 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.
Mail does not get postmarked until it is picked up and processed at a post office, so a ballot submitted too close to the cutoff could end up being disqualified even if it technically made it into a mailbox before the 8 p.m. deadline. Last-minute voters should consider taking their ballots to a drop box instead.