Oregon – Republicans are leading Democrats in the percentage of ballots returned going into election day for 2024. As of noon on November 5th data from the Oregon Secretary of State’s website shows that statewide Republicans have returned 70.9% of ballots for total eligible voters and Democrats have returned 66.5% of total ballots. The largest group of voters in Oregon are those designated as Non-Affiliated totaling 1.1 million people, only 36.3% of that total group have returned their ballots thus far.
While Republicans lead by the percentage the Democrats retain an overall lead in votes with 676,703 ballots versus 527,255 ballots for Republican voters. Democrats have long held an advantage with a higher total number of registered voters. The numbers listed by the Secretary of State show there are 274,822 more eligible Democrats than Republicans in this election.
The top 3 counties for Republicans based on rate of return are the rural counties of Wallowa, Grant, and Harney with a combined total of 8,578 eligible Republicans and 2,639 eligible Democrats. For Democrat voters the top 3 counties are also rural areas Wallowa, Curry, and Gilliam. These counties have a combined total of 5,601 eligible Democrats and 9,875 Republicans.
There are some larger areas with ballot return rates above the respective statewide average for each county. Jackson County with 43,698 eligible Democrats and 50,355 eligible Republicans so far is showing a 79% return rate for Republicans and a 77% return rate for Democrats. Deschutes County with about 5,000 more total Democrats shows 78% of ballots returned for Democrats but Republicans are close behind at 77%. There is a wider gap in Linn County where there are 12,385 more eligible Republicans than Democrats and Republicans have returned 75% of their ballots compared to 70% for Democrats.
Multnomah County which has 232,596 more eligible Democrats than Republicans is second from the bottom of the list for total ballot returns statewide with 50.4% of total ballots returned. The highest is Wallowa County with 74.8% of total ballots in. In Multnomah 61% of Democrats have returned their ballots putting them just 1% ahead of Republicans who have returned 60% of their ballots thus far.
Republicans have a higher ballot return rate going into election day in 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties. The counties with a higher return rate for Democrats are Curry, Deschutes, Gilliam, Lincoln, Clatsop, Benton, and Multnomah. The average difference in return rate in these seven counties is 2% compared with a 5% average difference in the 29 counties where Republicans are leading in ballot return rates.
About the Author
Discover more from Right Now Oregon
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
