More than 7,300 ballots cast in Oregon’s May primary election were not counted because they arrived after Election Day and carried late postmarks, according to new information released by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office.
The 7,314 rejected ballots represented a 35-percent increase from the May 2022 primary, when 5,404 ballots were rejected for the same reason.
Under Oregon law, ballots sent through the mail can be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received by county election officials within seven days. However, ballots arriving during that seven-day period cannot be counted if their postmarks show they were mailed after Election Day.
The Secretary of State’s Office reports that 13.1 percent of the ballots arriving during the grace period following this year’s primary were rejected because of late postmarks. That compares with 9.5 percent in the 2024 primary and 8.2 percent in 2022.
State election officials are concerned that changes in Postal Service operations may be delaying when some ballots receive postmarks. Mail from some communities, particularly rural areas, must travel to regional processing centers before receiving a postmark. That could result in a ballot being marked a day or more after a voter places it in the mail.
Secretary of State Tobias Read is urging Oregonians not to wait until Election Day to return ballots through the mail. Voters who wait until the final days are encouraged to use one of Oregon’s 324 official ballot drop boxes instead.
Ballots placed in an official drop box must be deposited no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Read is also asking the Oregon Legislature for emergency funding to add 20 ballot drop boxes around the state and help cover the increased use of existing locations. His office is seeking funding for a statewide ballot-tracking program that would allow voters to receive more detailed information about the status of their ballots.
Oregon’s next general election is November 3. The final day to register to vote is October 13.
Voters can check their registration, locate election information and track the status of a returned ballot through the state’s My Vote website at OregonVotes.gov.
