Union County has a solid election ballot return rate
Published 7:00 am Friday, November 4, 2022
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LA GRANDE — Union County is enjoying a steady election turnout.
More than one-third of Union County voters have returned their ballots as of Thursday, Nov. 3, for the general election.
The ballots return percentage was at 33.97%, according to Union County Clerk Robin Church. This is comparable, Church said, to the percentage of returned ballots Union County received during the same time in the 2018 midterm election.
Church said her office mailed ballots Oct. 19 to 19,234 voters.
Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. However, mailed ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 8 will be counted if they arrive at the clerk’s office within seven business days after the election. This new option for voters first became available in this year’s May election.
Church said in the May election, 185 ballots were received in the seven business days after the election and a total of 164 of those met the requirements allowing them to be counted.
Voter turnout around the state reached 21% by the end of the day Nov. 1, state elections officials reported.
So far, statewide turnout has failed to keep pace with that of recent midterm elections. In both 2014 and 2018, 24% of Oregon’s registered voters had cast ballots at this point.
As is typical, turnout in much of rural Oregon is high at this stage while turnout in the state’s three most populous counties, Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas, trails behind. Multnomah voters are the most sluggish so far, with just 15.6% of ballots in.
The state’s three most urban counties, and particularly Multnomah, tend to see a huge surge in last-day voting in fall elections, fueled in part by a high concentration of ballot drop boxes that make late voting easy.
Republican turnout is ahead of Democrat turnout, 29% to 26%, state tallies show. Turnout by voters not affiliated with either major party is comparatively anemic, at 13%.
Voters have plenty of time to weigh in on some of the closest big races that Oregon has seen in more than a decade, including the race for governor and half of Oregon’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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