How Multnomah County counts ballots, ensures security for elections
The Secretary of State's website helps Oregon voters find the closest ballot drop-box location.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — With less than a week until the voting deadline for Oregon’s primary election, Multnomah County is working to ensure all ballots are properly counted.
Tuesday, May 21 is the last day for registered residents to postmark their ballot. Voters can also return them to a nearby drop-box by 8 p.m. that evening.
Oregon is one of eight states with all-mail voting, a system that Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said provides a sense of transparency.
“We set a lot of the standards for how to conduct a mail election,” Scott told KOIN 6. “I think there are security features built into a vote-by-mail ballot that help make it secure. Every ballot envelope, whether it’s two ballots going to the same voter or not, has a unique identifier.”
That “unique identifier” — a barcode — on the envelope is scanned by election staff. The barcode also helps ensure a resident’s vote isn’t counted twice if they updated their address after a ballot was sent to their original location.
Both the U.S. Postal Service and Multnomah County offer ballot-tracking services, although registered Oregonians should’ve received their ballots by May 9.
Ballots are only counted if the return envelope is signed by the voter. Scott explained that election workers compare envelope signatures to those on the registration card, to prevent fraud.
If officials determine the signatures don’t match, they send a letter informing the resident their ballot cannot be counted. Voters then have another 21 days after the election date to provide a matching signature.
After the envelope is opened, the ballots are counted using a tabulation system programmed by the Elections Division. To ensure the system works, the agency conducts two logic and accuracy tests — one of which the public is welcome to attend.
“Just one of the security features of that system is that it is air-gapped, meaning it is never connected to the internet and it's never connected to the county network. And then that way, no one could hack into the system remotely,” Scott said.
According to the director, there are also many layers of in-person security that prevent all but a few election workers from accessing the room the system is held in.
Multnomah County recorded an 8.47% voter turnout as of Thursday. Scott said this is low for a presidential primary, but comparable to the previous gubernatorial primary. Based on historical data, he expects between 35% and 40% of Oregon’s registered voters to return their ballots by Tuesday night.
But you probably shouldn’t wait that long.
Oregon Drop Box Locator
“It's good to get your voting done as early as possible. That just allows you more time to make a plan. Know where you're going to drop your ballot if you're going to drop it off. Get it in the mail if you're going to mail it,” he said.