Ballot return for the primary election ends tomorrow. If you haven’t had a chance to turn in your ballot and you’re in the Portland metro area, here are resources that may help you get your vote in.
If you need some help deciding who to vote for, PDX.Vote’s recommendations cover state, county, Metro, and city races that affect Portland residents.
Missing your ballot?
Whether you didn’t receive your ballot or it’s not where you left it, you can still get your vote in. You’ll need to go by your county elections office to get a new ballot — and you may as well vote right there and then, so you can drop off your ballot without a second trip. Given how close we are to the ballot return deadline, assume that you may need to wait.
If you’re picking up a ballot for another person, you’ll need a signed note from that person authorizing you to pick up their ballot.
Some counties have a system for ordering ahead to pick up a replacement ballot:
- Multnomah County Order Ahead Replacement Ballot Service
- Washington County Ballot Will Call
- Clackamas County doesn’t seem to have an order ahead system, but you may be able to request a ballot to be picked up by phone (503-655-8510) or email (elections@clackamas.us)
You can also request a new ballot if yours has been damaged. Please note that you can vote on Clackamas County ballots despite blurred bar codes. The Clackamas County Elections Office has made arrangements to hand count such ballots.
Help with voting
County elections offices are responsible for providing help to voters. What help is available can vary a bit, but there are some options you can ask your local elections office about.
- Assistance with completing and returning a ballot for disabled voters, including help at a location of your choice
- Access to digital ballots which can be used with screen readers
- Interpretation for voters who speak languages other than English
Mail it in or drop it off
This election is the first where voters aren’t required to provide their own postage to mail in a ballot. If you’re posting back your ballot, you can just drop it in the mail.
Even better, this is the first Oregon election where your ballot just needs to be in the mail and postmarked by Election Day, rather than actually received by your local county elections office. You do still need to get your ballot into a U.S. Postal Service collection box before the last pickup time listed for tomorrow to ensure that it’s postmarked May 17. The USPS has a location finder that includes the last collection times for their blue boxes and other collection points.
You can also drop off your ballot at other collection points managed by your county elections office, which include the elections office itself, libraries, and other public buildings. All sites are open until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.
- Clackamas County ballot drop sites
- Multnomah County ballot drop sites
- Washington County ballot drop sites
Some groups in Oregon also collect and return ballots on behalf of voters. This practice is legal, but election officials discourage this practice.
Any other concerns?
Contact your county elections office directly for other ballot issues.
- Clackamas County — 503-655-8510 / elections@clackamas.us
- Multnomah County — 503-988-8683 / elections@multco.us
- Washington County — (503) 846-5800 / contact form
- Oregon Elections TTY — 800-735-2900.
In the event that you have a concern about your local elections office, contact Election Protection. The organization is operated by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and provides help to voters. They operate nationwide hotlines. You can also visit the Election Protection site to get help via online chat.
- Hotline — 866-687-8683 (can accept texts)
- Spanish/English Hotline – 888-839-8682
- Asian Languages/English Hotline — 888-274-8683
- Arabic/English Hotline — 844-925-5287
- ASL Video Call Hotline — 301-818-8683
