FILE - An election worker opens a ballot at the Clackamas County Elections Office in Oregon City, Ore., Nov. 5, 2024.
Anna Lueck for OPB
About one in three registered voters participated in their local elections throughout Oregon last week.
That’s according to preliminary election results from the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.
In all, more than 471,000 people voted, out of the nearly 1.37 million people registered to vote in Tuesday’s elections. Fifteen of Oregon’s 36 counties held elections, voting on everything from parks to libraries to law enforcement.
The results are subject to change, according to a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office. Ballots that were mailed and postmarked by Nov. 4 are still counted if they arrive within seven days of the election. Most areas did not hold countywide elections.
Most of the elections were held in the state’s most populous counties, located in the Willamette Valley. An average of about 36% of people participated in local elections in the counties that make up the Portland metro area: Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington.
Marion County, which is home to Oregon’s capitol city of Salem, has so far reported the lowest voter turnout. The county saw nearly 21% of registered voters casting ballots in elections that occurred in the towns of Stayton, Woodburn and St. Paul.
Rural areas, like in Morrow, Umatilla, Baker and Klamath counties, had far fewer registered voters than the Willamette Valley, but reported a similar overall turnout rate at nearly 37%.
