Ballots, ballots, ballots: Multnomah County turnout on pace

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- After a weekend of decision-making, hundreds of thousands of ballots are pouring into drop boxes throughout Oregon on Monday. But many Multnomah County voters headed to the election office to say they didn't get a ballot in the mail and need a replacement.

So far, more the 250,000 ballots have been returned in Multnomah County -- about 40% -- with turnout expected to be double that based on past election cycles. Most of those ballots were sent postage-paid through the US mail, but at this point in the cycle, it's better to take it to an Elections Drop Box or a drop slot at an Elections building.

Multnomah County Elections Dashboard 2024

A mailed ballot must be postmarked by midnight Tuesday night. Any ballot dropped in the mail now is not guaranteed it will have the machine postmark stamp in time. Voters can take it to a post office and get it hand stamped, if requested.

Official Ballot Drop Boxes are a good option until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

About 500 returned ballots did not have signatures on the envelope, and about 1000 were kicked out by the computer for not matching the signature on file.

Voters affected by these issues are contacted by text or by mail. They need to reach Elections officials to get it taken care of and actually have up to 3 weeks after Election Day to do that.

If you're getting a replacement ballot, there is a way to skip the line. Some counties do have Will Call for ballots -- that is, a voter can contact the county for a replacement ballot, then come down and pick it up without having to wait in the long lines.