Media contacts:
Tim Scott or Edward Gutiérrez, 503-988-VOTE (8683)
Denis Theriault, Multnomah County Communications, pressoffice@multco.us
Multnomah County, Ore. (May 21, 2025) — As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, voter turnout for the May 20 Special District Election reached 24.7%, with 141,909 ballots accepted, exceeding initial projections.
That number includes more than 47,000 ballots received on Election Day and more than 9,500 ballots postmarked on or before Election Day but received on Wednesday. That amounts to just shy of 40% of all ballots accepted so far in this election.
Turnout will continue to increase as additional postmarked ballots arrive and are processed, per state law, in the week following Election Day.
All ballots accepted so far are included in Multnomah County Elections’ most recent release of election results, also updated as of 6 p.m. Wednesday. Turnout in special district elections typically varies from 15% to 40%.
This May’s election included contests for local ballot measures, local school district boards, community college district boards, the Multnomah and Clackamas County Education Service District boards, rural fire district boards, the Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District board, and water district boards.
Every year, the Elections Division hosts not only voters but also those interested in learning about their work operating transparent and effective elections in Multnomah County.
Among the visitors were officials from the Honolulu Election Division, returning for the first time since 2019, after voters in Hawaii approved vote-by-mail. Similar to Multnomah County, voters in Honolulu County are able to drop ballots at official drop boxes or return their ballots by mail.
“We came back because we wanted to have an opportunity to see how other Counties conduct elections and implement best practices from those doing this for a long time,” said Rhowell Ruiz, assistant election administrator from the Honolulu Elections Division.
The group from Hawaii observed staff and volunteers as they picked up and processed ballots, verified ballot signatures and staffed the phone bank. They also visited the Voting Center Express in Gresham, among other cornerstone functions at the Election Division.
“The dedication and teamwork are inspiring,” said Ruiz. “We consider ourselves lucky to come when there’s an election happening. It’s very generous. We like to visit Multnomah because we’re similar in size and analogous to our County.”
Certified election results available no later than Monday, June 16
Final official election results will be certified and submitted to special districts no later than Monday, June 16. Ballot processing will continue today, with results regularly updated at MultnomahVotes.gov.
Main office:
Multnomah County Duniway-Lovejoy Elections Building
1040 S.E. Morrison St., Portland, OR 97214
Gresham location:
Now closed
Voting Center Express at the Multnomah County East Building
600 N.E. 8th St., Gresham, OR 97030
Phone: 503-988-VOTE (8683)
Email: elections@multco.us
Website: MultnomahVotes.gov
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