Oregon's new ballot drop boxes arrived after ballots were sent
Emergency funding added 20 drop boxes, but most opened a week after voters received their mail ballots, complicating access in a record turnout race.
By Adam Lin ·
Oregon voters received their mail ballots on Oct. 14, but only three of the state's 20 new emergency drop boxes were operational that day. Secretary of State Tobias Read urged residents to use drop boxes to avoid postal delays, yet the majority of the new units opened between Oct. 21 and 26. This gap left many voters without immediate access to the alternative submission method Read recommended.
The state allocated $618,000 in emergency funds to Read's office for the drop box expansion. House Speaker Julie Fahey called the effort essential during federal challenges to elections. As of this week, 17 of the 20 boxes are online. Read's office aims to have all 20 installed by Election Day. Spokeswoman Tess Seger noted that logistics, such as underground utility scans and off-hours contractor availability in Tillamook County, slowed the installation process.
The drop box cost was part of a larger $1.25 million emergency package. The remaining funds expanded the BallotTrax tracking software to all counties and supported data management to clear inactive voters from lists. On Oct. 14, Read's office confirmed that voters statewide could now receive alerts when their ballots are received for counting. This move addressed previous limitations where the system was only active in five counties.
Turnout for the 2026 midterms is pacing ahead of 2022 levels. The Secretary of State's office reported 827,300 submitted ballots as of Wednesday, representing 26.5% of the 3.1 million active voters. In the same week during the 2022 cycle, only 19.7% of active voters had turned in ballots. Monday recorded the highest single-day total with 208,000 submissions statewide.
In Multnomah County, 105,900 people had submitted ballots by Tuesday. The breakdown included 68,700 Democrats, 18,400 nonaffiliated voters, 12,700 Republicans, and 4,200 independents. Statewide, Democrats account for 321,400 of the 730,000 voters who have cast ballots so far. Republicans total 222,000, nonaffiliated voters number 135,400, and independents make up 40,600.
Federal election monitors are being deployed to polling locations in all 50 states, including Multnomah County. Multnomah County election director Tim Scott said federal officials must follow local observer procedures. The Trump administration's efforts to impose new Postal Service rules were largely defeated at the Supreme Court, though legal challenges remain active.
In Tillamook County, clerk Christy Nyseth prepared to unlock the county's newest drop box at the Nestucca Fire District office in Beaver. This site is the county's 10th drop box and saves some voters a 15-mile trip. However, the most used location remains the Tillamook County Courthouse. Nyseth reported several hundred daily visitors to the clerk's office, a sharp increase from the usual handful or 50 people.
Source: Willamette Week
