Multnomah County voters started receiving ballots for the May special election in their mailboxes Tuesday — a little later than the rest of the state.
Ballots were initially delayed because of a data entry error. A staffer accidentally marked the District 3 race for a seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners as a countywide race. As a result, the contest appeared on all voter ballots, rather than appearing only on ballots for District 3 voters. District 3 covers much of Southeast Portland.
Ballots for the May 16, 2023, Multnomah County special election were delivered to some Portland-area homes on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Courtney Sherwood / OPB
Elections workers had to reprint about 560,000 ballots and push back the mailing date by about a week.
Some voters may have already received their ballots with the misprint, including overseas and military voters. County officials are asking those voters to fill out those ballots, despite the error.
Multnomah County voters who don’t receive their ballots by Friday should contact the county elections office.
Ballots for special elections across Oregon must be submitted or postmarked by May 16.