NEWS RELEASE: Multnomah County voter turnout surges on Election Day, casting ballots in first-ever ranked choice contests

For immediate release: Nov. 4, 2026

Media contact:
Communications Office, [email protected]

NEWS RELEASE: Multnomah County voter turnout surges on Election Day, casting ballots in first-ever ranked choice contests

Multnomah County voters join City of Portland voters in using ranked choice voting for candidate contests.

Multnomah County, Ore. (Nov. 4, 2026) — As of Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, Multnomah County voter turnout reached over 62.28%, with more than 115,000 ballots returned on Election Day alone.

Voter participation in the Nov. 3, 2026, General Election was on par with historical midterm trends. Turnout among the over-594,000 registered Multnomah County voters trended ahead of 2022 figures but remained behind 2018 levels. Overall turnout will continue to rise as postmarked and valid returned ballots are processed in the coming days.

“Final turnout is projected to reach about 70%,” said Elections Director Tim Scott. 

“Multnomah County Elections experienced a significant last-minute rush of voters casting ballots on Election Day with steady lines at the Elections Office in Southeast Portland, as well as voters returning ballots to the more than 30 Official Ballot Drop Sites in the county.”  

Preliminary Unofficial Election Results 

Results for City of Portland and Multnomah County candidate contests decided by ranked choice voting (RCV) will continue to be posted only at rcvresults.multco.us and are available in multiple formats, including bar charts and detailed tabular reports. Please note that results for Multnomah County Sheriff and Auditor will be on rcvresults.multco.us, too. 

All other election results will be posted at multnomahvotes.gov and the Oregon Secretary of State’s website.

The Elections Division will post updated results on a regular daily schedule until the bulk of all ballots received are counted.

All results should be considered preliminary. Elections typically processes and releases results for roughly half of all expected ballots on Election Day. That percentage typically climbs to 90% of ballots by the Thursday after Election Day. The higher volume of ballots means it may take longer for the community to see definitive results.

The Secretary of State’s website does not have the capability to display RCV results and will link back to rcvresults.multco.us.

Voters can also explore Multnomah County’s interactive dashboard for updates on voter turnout, the number of ballots returned, returns by precinct, and even a breakdown of ballots returned by mail or Official Ballot Drop Site. 

This election cycle saw an increase in registered voters, as well as a surge in enrollment for Multnomah County’s Track Your Ballot service, with more than 181,500 voters signed up — including more than 17,000 who signed up in October alone.

And as always, multiple observers were able to spend time in the Elections office or at ballot drop sites, watching staff and volunteers as they worked for hours to collect and count ballots. Election observation is a common practice in Oregon elections.

“Transparency remains a core value of Multnomah County Elections," said Scott. “Members of the public are always welcome and encouraged to visit and observe how the vote-by-mail process unfolds. We continue to reinforce trust in a system that has proven itself time and time again.”

Multnomah County joined the City of Portland ranked choice election in candidate contests

The Nov. 3, 2026, General Election also marked the first time candidate contests for Multnomah County used ranked choice voting. 

In November 2022, voters in Portland and Multnomah County approved measures to require ranked choice voting for all candidate contests. Portland voters began using ranked choice voting in November 2024. 

Portland uses multi-winner ranked choice voting to elect its City Council members and single-winner ranked choice voting to elect its Mayor and Auditor. Multnomah County uses only single-winner ranked choice voting for candidate contests.  

One candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes to be elected in single-winner contests. In multi-winner ranked choice voting with three open seats, candidates must receive more than 25% of the vote to win.

Tabulation varies slightly between single-winner RCV (used for Portland Mayor and Auditor and all Multnomah County elected official contests) and multi-winner RCV (used only for Portland City Council).

Only voters’ first choices are counted; if no candidate receives enough votes to be elected, candidates with the fewest votes are defeated and votes are transferred to their supporters’ next choices. This process continues until a candidate crosses the election threshold. 

(Review Multnomah County’s guide on how ranked choice ballots are counted.)

Celebrating elections workers

The Elections Division can employ up to 200 on-call election workers who join permanent staff to help conduct elections.

Each sworn election worker serves a valuable role in ensuring accurate, accessible and secure elections for Multnomah County voters. Election workers’ roles include collecting ballots at drop sites, running ballots through high-speed sorters, opening ballot envelopes, providing direct voter services in Portland and Gresham, answering thousands of phone calls, and countless other duties in between. We thank them for their service.

Vote by Mail’s pillars — accuracy, security, accessibility, convenience — remain steadfast 

For nearly three decades, Vote by Mail has been reliable, convenient and secure — before, during and after each election. A suite of security procedures and processes remains in place to keep it that way.  

Unique identifiers are on every ballot return envelope and only one ballot for each voter can be counted. 

The paper ballot system offers:

• Inherent security that is bolstered by ballot-counting systems that are never connected to the internet. 
• A paper trail from the casting and counting of ballots to election certification. 
• A Track Your Ballot service that voters can use to watch their ballot move through the acceptance process. Track Your Ballot is available in multiple languages. Voters can sign up before the next election at multnomah.ballottrax.net.

Finally, after every election, the system is audited by hand, using randomly selected batches and contests. Machine vote counts are compared to hand vote counts. This step also includes opportunities to observe these processes unfold and to ensure transparency and confidence in the election results. 

Local elections are important and count tremendously in the decision-making that shapes the future of our communities. Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of voters in Multnomah County who participated and made sure their voices were heard.

Final Official Election Results available by Nov. 30, 2026

Final official election results will be certified and submitted to the state and districts by Nov. 30, 2026. 

The next election is the Special District Election on May 18, 2027. 

Main office:

Multnomah County Duniway-Lovejoy Elections Building

1040 S.E. Morrison St., Portland. OR 97214

Gresham location:

Closed until spring 2027

Voting Center Express at the Multnomah County East Building

600 N.E. 8th St., Gresham, OR 97030

Phone: 503-988-VOTE (8683)

Email: [email protected]

Website: MultnomahVotes.gov

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