PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Starting Wednesday, Oregon ballots will be mailed out for the May primary. As we approach the voter registration deadline at midnight Tuesday, April 26, this year’s primary features a big change when it comes to mailing your ballot.
The first thing to know is, Multnomah County’s elections office is open until 7 p.m. Monday. If you can’t make it in, you can register online at oregonvotes.gov before midnight. To register, you need an Oregon driver’s license number to prove your identity.
You can also update your mailing address at the website to make sure you get your ballot — Oregon is an all mail in ballot state.
You will likely get your ballot in the mail in the next week, and it may look different than the one someone else gets in your household, especially if you are a registered unaffiliated voter — meaning not registered with a particular party.
You can also change your registration before midnight to one of the major parties, vote for partisan candidates, then change back after the election.
This primary is Oregon’s first where your ballot doesn’t have to be at elections offices by 8 p.m. on election day. It just has to be postmarked by election day.
KOIN 6 News checked with the Multnomah County elections director who says even if you are not in Multnomah County, you can go the the election’s office before 7 p.m. to register and they will forward it to your county elections office.