Proofreading error causes ballot delay in Multnomah County

Due to an error in proofreading, ballots are being reprinted and will be mailed "a few days later than anticipated," Multnomah County officials announced Monday.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The Multnomah County Special District Election is less than a month away, but voters will be receiving their ballots a bit late.

Due to an error in proofreading, ballots are being reprinted and will be mailed "a few days later than anticipated," Multnomah County officials announced Monday.

The Special District Election is set for May 16. The county says they regret the error and inconvenience.

"We are still working to determine the exact timing of ballot delivery," said Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott. "The ballot proofing error was discovered today, Monday morning, April 24, and affects every ballot. We are working swiftly to print corrected ballots and mail them to voters."

The error caused the District 3 race for the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners to appear on every ballot in the county, instead of only appearing on ballots to those that live in the third district.

Under normal circumstances, ballots are prepared to mail the day after the voter registration deadline, which was supposed to be Wednesday, April 26.

Officials say ballots will now be mailed out no later than Tuesday, May 2 -- meaning voters will still have two weeks to make their decisions.

"We will ensure every ballot is counted accurately — whether it contained the error or not," Scott said. "If voters do want a replacement ballot we can work with them to get a replacement ballot. But if they’ve returned their original ballot, we will count it accurately."

According to officials, some voters have already received their ballots. The County says people should still vote as those ballots. Voters who have questions about their ballots should call the Multnomah County Elections Office at 503-988-VOTE (8683).