Mail trucks across Oregon began carrying precious cargo Wednesday, the first day county clerks began to mail May 21 primary election ballots to voters.
The primary will decide nominees for Congress, the state legislature, and key state leadership like secretary of state, attorney general, and treasurer, as well as a host of local races and measures.
This week, Central Oregon elections officials were getting ready for the rest of the democratic process to unfold. The Jefferson County Clerk missed a call from OPB Wednesday morning because staff said she was out unlocking ballot boxes in the rural county. In neighboring Crook County, Clerk Cheryl Seely said her office was ready to receive ballots and verify voter signatures when counting votes begins the week of May 14.
“Our ballot boxes are out and open as of today,” Seely said Wednesday morning. “Or you can pop ‘em back in the mail to us.”
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Oregon is one of eight states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia — that allow elections to be conducted entirely by mail. In 2022, Oregon began accepting ballots postmarked on Election Day, but Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison urged caution, especially for those in rural areas or east of the Cascades, where local mail travels to distant processing centers and may not be postmarked right away.
“We’ve seen an uptick in voters trusting things will get in the mail and make it to us on time. But unfortunately, if it has a postmark after Election Day we can’t count it,” Dennison said. “As you get closer to Election Day, use the drop boxes, any drop box around the state.”
A ballot drop box in Deschutes County, Ore.
Courtesy of Deschutes County
Registered voters who don’t receive a ballot by May 8 should contact their local county clerk’s office, Seely said. Her office serves Crook County’s roughly 21,600 registered voters. As those who vote in the primary election return their ballots, the local clerk’s office checks each ballot’s signature against what’s on file.
“It is human eyes that see those, and make that call,” Seely said.
This time-consuming work happens in all of Oregon’s 36 counties, with each clerk’s office using a variety of state-certified methods to verify and process ballots locally.
Related: OPB Ballot Guide | 2024
During the last presidential election, Crook County overwhelmingly supported former President Donald Trump, who lost and has falsely claimed the election results were rigged. Seely said that any locals who distrust the election process should “come into my office and visit with me.”
“Our county ballots aren’t being counted by Deschutes County or by anybody in Salem. They’re done locally,” she said. “Go watch the process, talk with your county clerk if you’ve got questions, and ask those questions.”
Her office will begin livestreaming the vote counting process the week prior to and on Election Day, May 21.